SuperHeroBooks - Darkman II: The Return of Durant [Region 2]

	List Price: Our Price: $17.99 Your Save: $ ( % ) Availability: Starring: Larry Drake, Arnold Vosloo, Kim Delaney, Renée O'Connor, Lawrence Dane Directed By: Bradford May
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD EAN: 0044005375428 Format: Anamorphic Number Of Discs: 1 Region Code: 2 Theatrical Release Date: 1994
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: "But nothing lasts forever pizzaface."- Robert Durant Comment: Darkman 2 pretty much captures the same feel of the first. But it kind of took a turn for the Batman style. The costumed vigilante thing and to include his own "secret" lair. I didn't find this sequel as good as the first but it's still fun to watch. Larry Drake returns as the ruthless criminal Robert G. Durant. Someway, somehow, he survives that helicopter crash with only a few scars and a limp. As crazy as his return sounds, I'm glad to see him back. In fact his character is what makes this movie watchable to me. Hes still just as ruthless with some funny lines. Without a doubt he's the highlight to me. Arnold Vosloo is the new Darkman/Peyton Westlake and surprisingly he's good. I didn't see too much of a difference. Durant is trying to put together a company to manufacture super weapons. He muscles in on a scientist that is skilled in the same area as Peyton Westlake. These two try to form a partnership until Durant gives the guy his worst and final beating of his life. This sends Darkman hot on his heels for revenge. The action scenes and cleverness doesn't match up to the original. But it never felt boring to me. There was enough action going on to keep this fun. Darkman looks a bit like Freddy Krueger, he could actually make a good horror vilian. Darkman 2 is a worthy sequel and at the very least is good for a rental. I enjoyed the first two, they're real nice popcorn flicks to past the time. Customer Rating: Summary: His Name's Not "Buddy". It's Durant! Comment: Considering this is a direct-to-video sequel to a hit film missing it's star, the film is very good. It manages to capture the look and feel of the first film better than you'd expect. Not 100% mind you, but the title sequence and the flashes of Darkman's rage and the music are duplicated perfectly. This no doubt has to do with Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert being on board as executive producers. It's the return of Durant(that's Robert G Durant to you), and he's no mere henchman this time around, but the big cheese. It's a bit difficult to believe he actually survived that helicopter crash, and even more difficult to believe that if he did survive, that he wouldn't be covered with major third degree burns not unlike Darkman himself. But this is a B action film, who the hell cares? Did we question why Arcane just showed up in Return of the Swamp Thing all alive and healthy for no logical reason? Of course not, you just accept it. Durant's got a plan to corner the market on arms sales by creating one big whoopass gun, but he's having a few problems with some folks who won't sell their building so Durant can convert it to a manufacturing plant. Add to that, Darkman problems. Darkman has now become full fledged crimefighter(at least I think so. In the beginning he puts the hurt on a guy who was shooting up a car full of people, but then switches his attention solely to Durant), and lives a kind of Batman existence underground. He even has a mini railway car. He's still having a hell of a time trying to get that synthetic skin to hold together though. He finds hope in another scientist who's working on the same thing, but that's quickly down the tubes coz the scientist is the guy who won't sell Durant his building....and we all know what happens when folks don't cooperate with Durant, don't we? So now Darkman's double pissed. Again he tries to infiltrate Durant's organization through his clever disguises and it all leads to an explosive showdown as you would expect from this kind of film. Though most of it's by the numbers, this movie is pretty good. Don't be discouraged by the fact that Liam Neeson isn't here. After all, he had more important things to do like star in that rotten Star Wars movie(Rob Roy was cool though!). Arnold Vosloo isn't what you'd call a household name, but most folks might remember him as the guy who played the mummy in the films with Brendan Fraser. Vosloo was actually picked by Raimi and Tapert as Neeson's replacement, and it's easy to see why. I actually like Vosloo better as Darkman. He's got charisma, charm. Hell, the guy is smooth. And when needed he can jump into action mode, no problem. I like Liam Neeson, but he was a little too mumbly and whiney. Vosloo is more of the badass you picture a guy like Darkman to be. Of course a lot more screen time is given to Larry Drake. Actually, I'd even go so far to say he's the star of the film. Great job as always, he looks like he's having fun. Of course he usually looks like he's having fun. A very good performance, a very mean and over the top villain. Darkman 2 is worth checking out, you just might be a bit surprised. Customer Rating: Summary: Sadly, Comment: The lack of Liam neeson and raimi's directing is what ruined this movie for me. While Mr. Vasloo is superb in his taking on the burden of the Liam created character and mr. Drake always has appeal, the movie as a whole needed a much better script. It was too predicatble, too phoney. On the bonus side, they did manage to keep the hapahazard and crazy comments Darkman makes during chases and fight scenes in tact, so that was a plus. Customer Rating: Summary: Another great movie! Comment: This movie is a fun filled movie that delivers nonstop action and isn't one second boring! Brilliant! Customer Rating: Summary: A big surprise! Comment: After I saw this movie I realized that it is not so bad as everyone described it to be. Although they changed the person who plays Darkman, this movie is still good and fun to watch more than once. It's a good movie! More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: Sam Raimi created Darkman with a potential franchise in mind, and his original movie 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 lackluster 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. Of interest only to those who were dazzled by the original Darkman, and even then it's a disappointment. --Jeff Shannon