Darkman II: The Return of Durant

I remember back in 1996, when I saw this one, being pretty disappointed. Because this movie lacks the grandeur of the original. It felt like a lesser movie, and in a way it is of course. But re-watching it, learned me to re-appreciate it, and I now even like it more than back then. It is a darn decent sequel, if you ask me. What it lacks are some heavy-weight emotional aspects of the Darkman (provided in the first one because of his love-interest), therefor the revenge-theme is bit thinner here. It also, clearly lacks a budget of the same size as the first one, making it look a little less impressive. Other than that, the movie delivers as far as most of its predecessor's characteristics go. I must add, however, if you were to take the Darkman himself out of this movie, you'd just end up with a pretty mediocre, run-of-the-mill action movie, truly worthy of the direct-to-video status. But, fortunately, he's still in it, and Darkman only still is the sole reason we watch these movies, now don't we? This time (and this might be a disappointment to many), Dr. Peyton Westlake is played by Arnold Vosloo. At the time of my first time viewing, I didn't like this very much. Now, I can only conclude Vosloo does a more than decent job stepping in Neeson's footsteps. A nice touch in the script, was having Peyton set up his laboratory on a new location, underground this time. The writers did a very good thing by bringing back Larry Drake as Durant (he's just so mean! :) and having him team up with a mad scientist/weapons inventor. Good thing too, in the plot, was having Darkman, at one point team up with a fellow scientist (Dr. Brinkman) to try and perfect his liquid skin techniques. When, later in the movie, he finds Dr. Brinkman murdered and his dreams smashed to pieces, all the agony of similar things happening to him once come back... and it's Darkman's Revenge Time again! Sadly, this movie is lacking an enjoyable climax in the end. The ending itself doesn't necessarily hint at a sequel, but it leaves the door open saying: this might turn into an on-going series.

I saw this poor excuse for a movie on BBC1 while on Holiday in Tenerife. I'd had a few drinks and started watching this movie. After getting over the initial rank bad acting and cheesy dialogue, I started to enjoy it. The villain, Durant, played by Larry Drake who played the retarted guy in L.A. Law is very funny indeed. On breaking a mad scientist out of prison he asks "Do you know why I busted you out?". The reply is class "You busted me out because I'm one of two people alive who is capable of building a nuclear bomb in a shed, from household items". The mad scientist goes on to invent a ray-gun which they are hoping to sell to the Police. After an effective demonstration, the chief of police asks the Mad scientist how long it would take to provide 300 of these ray guns. The Scientist replies that he can have them delivered "by the end of the week". He's working in A SHED. Too funny. Must be viewed as a comedy, funnier than anything Mike Myers has ever done. 2/10

Inferior sequel to Darkman has the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie. It was, in fact, straight-to-video. So you can figure what kind of quality you're looking at here. There's a new actor in the title role (Arnold Vosloo) and he's particularly unexciting. The plot is pretty thin and is just an excuse to have Robert Durant (Larry Drake) return, despite having been killed at the end of the first movie. Larry Drake's campy performance is the best thing about this sequel. "Xena" fans might enjoy seeing Renee O'Connor in an early role. This was shot back-to-back with Darkman III: Die Darkman Die. Neither film is as good as the first. This is completely lacking in any of the craftsmanship or artistry that went into making Darkman.

I only watched this film when it was on telly because I am a big fan of Renee O'Connor who had a biggish part in it, and I wanted to see more of her work in films, but I wasnt really expecting this film to be good. But I was in for a surprise - I think the film turned out to be really good - with some good action scenes - and the acting from everyone - especially Larry Drake (Durant) was brilliant. I have heard that the first of the "Darkman" triology (there is also a third which I also recommend) is the best, directed by Sam Raimi, so I would like to see that too, but this particular film blew me away. I really would recommend it, and give it 9 1/2 out of 10. Look out for some great scenes between Darkman and a bad guy - Ivan. Overall, the whole film is great, and if you are a fan of Renee O'Connor, then you would like it because her performance in it is really good.

Straight to video sequel that lost most of the charm and quirks of the original. The new actor playing Darkman had a beautiful voice but was painfully corny at times. The standout was definitely the journalist (Kim Delaney) and she's in the best moment of the film (you'll know when you see it). The action scenes were far from the quality of the first film but then again, this sequel obviously had a much lower budget. It's a mediocre flick as in very average TV pilot quality, and not painfully bad as the turd, pardon third movie. It's something to see as a curiosity if you liked the first Darkman. Rating: 4 out of 10

I really like the original Darkman so I was skeptical as to whether this would be a good sequel or not, but I was impressed. Like the first one, it's in no way a groundbreaking film but it is a good slice of entertainment. I think anyone who liked the first film will like this movie as well. Arnold Vosloo does an exceptional job taking over Liam Neeson's character and I'd go as far as to say that he is just as good. The story is alright but it kind of seems like a repeat of the original, I guess there's only so much you can do with these movies. I really like the effects as well. This one was fun. Give Darkman II a viewing if you enjoyed the first one and like some cheesy action. As long as you don't expect a sweeping epic, I think you'll have some fun.

The sequel to Darkman is action packed but lacks the greatness of its prequel.The action scenes are staged good and the acting by the new Darkman played by Arnold Vosloo and the returning Larry Drake are good.The sequel is a good film but I prefer the original first.