Darkman

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Year:	1990
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Sam Raimi
Genre:	Dark comic book fable
Starring:	Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Larry Drake
Rating:	4/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099365/
Tagline:	Now, Crime Has a New Enemy, And Justice Has a New Face!
Favourite line:	"You truly are one ugly son of a bitch!"

Sam 'Spiderman' Raimi's earlier foray into comic book territory is an altogether darker affair than the mega-budget Tobey Maguire swing-a-thon.
Liam Neeson plays Peyton Westlake, a scientist experimenting with some form of synthetic polymer that could be used as replacement skin for burn victims and the like. His girlfirend happens to be a lawyer, working on a case that will incriminate a disreputable property developer. When the gangsters come looking for some vital evidence, Peyton gets in the way, and winds up horribly disfigured in an explosion.
But wait, I hear you cry, surely he can just use his synthetic skin?
And indeed he can, but the recipe has yet to be perfected, so the skin only lasts for 99 minutes before dissolving into a liquid gloop.
Frantic set pieces are interspersed with some genuine pathos here as we see the newly scarred Peyton, now known as Darkman, attempt to come to terms with his predicament and, ultimately failing, degenerating into a babbling, incoherent lunatic.
Raimi's direction is dizzying and flawless, with crazed camera angles and precision techniques exhibited throughout, as we have come to expect from him.
The cast in general perform well, particularly Neeson as Darkman and Drake as Durant.
A more sinister take on comic book happenings than we have become used to, this is one for the grown ups only.