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Darkman II: The Return of Durant
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Wikipedia article
'Darkman II: The Return of Durant' is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Bradford May. It is a direct-to-video sequel to the film 'Darkman', with series creator Sam Raimi serving as executive producer. The film stars Arnold Vosloo (replacing Liam Neeson from the first film) as Peyton Westlake/Darkman and Larry Drake reprising his role as Robert G. Durant. It was followed by the third installment in the trilogy, 'Darkman III: Die Darkman Die', also starring Vosloo.
Plot
Scientist Peyton Westlake has re-located his lair to a deserted building connected to an abandoned subway track and continues to work on perfecting his synthetic skin cell formula, funding his research by stealing from the criminals he fights as the vigilante "Darkman". His synthetic skin still has a 99-minute timeframe before light causes it to break down, but Westlake is confident he can find a way to overcome this flaw. Robert G. Durant, Westlake's old enemy, awakens from a coma after Darkman left him for dead in their last encounter. Durant quickly reforms his old gang and plots to help a prisoner, Dr. Alfred Hathaway, escape custody so he can use his scientific knowledge to build futuristic particle-beam weaponry and rebuild his influence in the criminal underworld.
Westlake meets and befriends a scientist named David Brinkman, who is also working on a synthetic skin formula; before long, Brinkman is able to break past the 99-minute photosensitivity problem of Westlake's formula. Before he can share his discovery with Westlake, however, Brinkman refuses an offer from Durant's men to purchase the building housing his lab (which Durant wants so he can establish a workshop for the particle-weapon scheme), and the mobster orders his death. Durant's men abduct and torture Brinkman before killing him. Westlake discovers his body and notices that a finger has been cut off (Durant's calling card), enabling him to deduce that Durant is alive and responsible for Brinkman's death. Sometime later, another of Westlake's friends, reporter Jill Randall, is killed by a car bomb to silence her investigation into Durant's return.
Westlake then learns that Durant is again seeking to purchase Brinkman's building, this time from his sister Laurie. He sets out to protect her from Durant. After she is captured, Westlake uses his synthetic skin to make masks and disguise himself as Durant's men so he can find the villain's hideout. In an ensuing battle, Durant's men, Dr. Hathaway, and the buyers Durant had lined up to purchase his weapons are all killed, while Laurie is rescued. Durant attempts to flee in his car, not knowing that Westlake had already rigged it with an explosive charge. Durant is thus killed, this time for good, in the same way that he had earlier murdered Jill Randall.
Westlake later sees a news report on Randall's death. Randall became a martyr and the police found out that Durant was behind her murder. Tipping his hat to the memory of his friend, Darkman silently vows to continue working on his synthetic skin cell formula and his fight against crime and injustice.
Cast
* Arnold Vosloo as Dr. Peyton Westlake / Darkman
* Larry Drake as Robert G. Durant
* Kim Delaney as Jill Randall
* Renee O'Connor as Laurie Brinkman
* Lawrence Dane as Dr. Alfred Hathaway
* Jesse Collins as Dr. David Brinkman
* David Ferry as Eddie Scully
* Rod Wilson as Ivan Druganov
* Jack Langedijk as Rollo Latham
* Sten Eirik as "Whitey"
* Steve Mousseau as Roy
* James Millington as Mr. Perkins
* Kevin Rushton as Skinhead
* Phillip Jarrett as Dan
* Catherine Swing as Bonnie Cisco
* Graham Rowat as Bob, The Producer
* Chris Gillett as Bob's Boss
* David Clement as Detective Stringer
* Donna Mullin as Miss S&M
Release
Home media
In 1999, the film was released on DVD, which included production notes, cast & crew bios, a trailer, and web links.All three 'Darkman' films were released in a box set in August 2007.
In 2014, it was re-released on DVD.
Shout! Factory released a Special Edition Blu-ray of the film in November 2017, featuring a new audio commentary with Bradford May.
Reception
Critical response
'Darkman II: The Return of Durant' received largely negative reviews from critics.The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 29% approval rating with an average rating of 3.67/10 based on 7 reviews.
'TV Guide' gave the film 2/5 stars and said, "...like its eponymous character, [it] doesn't stand strong scrutiny in the light". Hock Teh of 'IGN' gave the film 5/10 stars and criticized the feel, major plot holes, the casting of Vosloo as the title character instead of Liam Neeson (who portrayed Darkman in the first film), the acting, and the character development. Patrick Bromley of Daily Dead gave the film 2/5 stars and called it "fun, but silly".
Sequel
The film is followed by a third and final entry in the series, 'Darkman III: Die Darkman Die', which was released direct-to-video in 1996. The third film was originally intended to be released second, but their releases were switched.
References
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