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Darkman 2 - The Return Of Durant [1994]


RRP: £9.99
Our Price: £3.50 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Sam Raimi created Darkman with a potential franchise in mind, and his original film had enough flair to suggest a sequel was warranted. Unfortunately (or perhaps wisely--for Raimi), he handed over the straight-to-video sequel duties to rookie director Bradford May, and nobody bothered to come up with much of a screenplay. As a result, Darkman II plays like a bad pilot for a proposed Darkman TV series, with Arnold Vosloo (best known as a villain in Jean-Claude Van Damme's Hard Target) doing his best to replace Liam Neeson in the title role, sporting a dastardly scar and delivering lacklustre punch lines as he kills his many enemies. Larry Drake returns from the first film as the villainous Durant, who wreaks havoc in his attempt to finance and manufacture the world's most destructive automatic weapons. As he supports the synthetic skin experiments of a like-minded scientist, the scarred hero known as Darkman thwarts Durant's ruthless plot, but the case proves costly for the intrepid crime reporter (Kim Delaney, pre-NYPD Blue) who allies herself with Darkman's efforts. Basically, this by-the-numbers plot serves as a tissue-thin vehicle for lots of explosions and gratuitous violence, and it's all about as inspired as a bad syndicated action show. This will be of interest only to those who were dazzled by the original Darkman, and even then it's a disappointment. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Editorial
Special Features

English
Region 2

Editorial
Synopsis

As Darkman continues his search for the formula for synthetic skin, his nemesis awakens from a lengthy coma to retake his place in the criminal underworld. Fate and a strategic piece of property pit them against one another in a climactic battle.

Horror + O'Connor
Review date: 2001-01-25 Rating: 8 out of 10

A splendid horror movie. And for the fans of Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle of Xena : Warrior Princess) one of her first. She has this "teen-age touch" that we love in her.

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Reviews


Darkman 2
Review date: 2000-11-28 Rating: 10 out of 10

When I first saw this film I had no idea it was a 'straight-to-video' release. It's got a kind of big budget cinematic feel to it. I first saw it on The Sci-Fi Channel and recorded it and have watched it millions of times. To my surprise I found out it was out on DVD so I bought it and there's one heck of a difference. The quality's awesome and a lot less grainy than on video. Being better quality and in widescreen, it's a lot easier to get into. Durant is THE ultimate baddie and they couldn't have picked a better actor. There IS a lot of action, but not as much as in the first film. There's a good balance of action and humour and all the rest, the camera work is terrific, and it is cleverly directed. There's also a good musical score by Danny Elfman (Batman, Beetlejuice, The Simpsons, Sleepy Hollow, Men in Black etc..) Oh, and ain't the image on the front cover of the box just SO cool?!

An uninspired retread of the original
Review date: 2000-10-05 Rating: 4 out of 10

This sequel impresses with it's production values, almost matching those of the original - it certainly doesn't look like a straight-to-video movie. Director mimics Sam Raimi's crazy camera style only in certain scenes, making Darkman II more accesible in not as imaginative as it's predecessor. However, in the action stakes it's a case of, "What action?" as there is virtually none whatsoever, just some running around and avoiding bullets. While the original boasted a fantastic extended helicopter battle sequence as it's main action scene, he big set piece in TROD is a brief chase amongst the New York traffic. The only fight scene is wasted because we deliberately don't know exactly who it is fighting.

Taking over the title role, Arnold Vosloo a similar precense to Liam Neeson, but can't bring the frustration and tradgedy required to the part. He's not really helped by a script which gives him little to do but behave mysteriously, and get continually outwitted by the villains. Larry Drake adds class as Durrant, but he can't make up for a by-the-numbers plot and despately weak finale. Some poor CGI doesn't help either. The main gimmick of the series, that Darkman can disguise himself as anyone, is stubbornly repeated here in scenes taken almost shot-for-shot from the original. Darkman dresses as one of the bad guys, shocks said bad guy and knocks him out. Repeat for two hours and you have Darkman II.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Kim Delaney
Renée O'Connor
Arnold Vosloo
Larry Drake
Lawrence Dane

Creators:
Larry Drake (Primary Contributor)
Arnold Vosloo (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 0044005375428
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2000-09-30
Universal product code (UPC): 044005375428
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 88 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1994
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

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