Yes, you read right, this is Darkman. I realize that this film is 26 years old, but I have no idea how I missed it. I remember seeing a preview for it while I was waiting for Back to the Future III to start, and I realized that makes me old, because this was the summer after I graduated high school.

I actually think that I was starting college when this film came out, so I heard nothing about this film. I am certain that if I had seen this film back then, I would have loved it.

The film is the product of Sam Raimi, the guy who gave us both the Evil Dead and first Spider-Man trilogy. This director is known for his campy quality to his films, and Darkman is a prime example of that.

How can I describe Darkman? Remember those really campy parts in the first Spider-Man movie with the strange montages and the Denny Elfman movie cranked up to eleven? That is Darkman.

Darkman stars Liam Neeson as Peyton Westlake, before he did Schindler’s List, before The Phantom Menace, and before Taken. Why he wasn’t made a huge star after this film, I don’t know.

Darkman feels like a product of its time, I get the feeling that it was green-lit because Batman was a hit the summer before. Suddenly, Hollywood begins to realize that a superhero movie can make some dough, and someone wanted to make some extra.

The film is about a man who is trying to develop some synthetic skin, but he can’t make it last longer than 99 minutes. He is dating Julie Hastings, played by…Frances McDormand? Man, she should have been a star right after this. Anyway, Julie gets in over her head because she is about uncover a man named Durant, who is like this crimelord or something.

Yeah, I don’t remember the details, but somehow the bad guys take out what Julie discovers on her fiancee Peyton. They dip his face in acid, and he dies. Actually, he doesn’t, and comes back to life with bandages on his head. Yes, there is a part where he takes of the bandages and is horrified by his own face, but we the audience don’t get to see it until later. Yeah, it’s a cliche.

From there, the plot becomes a mix of The Phantom of the Opera mixed with Kill Bill. In the case of this iteration, the hero can put on a new face that lasts one hour and 39 minutes. His favorite trick is to put on the face of the villain’s henchmen, do something deliberately stupid, and then the villain just kills his own man. That is pretty cool.

I will have to say that this film has a subplot where Peyton tries to go back to Julie with a false face, but always has to leave early because his skin wears off. There is a time where he is on a date at an amusement park, and he sees a “freak” there. This ticks him off, and I can’t begin to discuss the “pink elephant” scene.

This is one of those films that has its big action scene too early with a fight with helicopters that is thick with awesome. It has another scene after that with a climax atop a 60 story building under construction, which is also cool, but not as great as the helicopter chase. The best part about the helicopter scene is there is no CG, just somewhat good special effects.

I swear that Sam Raimi was applying for the job as Spider-Man director with this film twelve years before it happened, and in many ways, it is better than some of his other works. I don’t want to spoil the ending of this film, but let’s just say that it ends with a familiar Raimi face.