Darkman III: Die Darkman Die is a 1996 Canadian-American superhero film directed by Bradford May, starring Arnold Vosloo, Jeff Fahey, Darlanne Fluegel and Roxann Dawson. It is the second sequel to 1990's Darkman, whose director Sam Raimi serves as executive producer.[1] Vosloo once again stars as Darkman, who stands against power-hungry entrepreneur Peter Rooker (Fahey), and forges a strange emotional bond with his enemy's neglected wife and daughter.[2]
Plot
Peyton Westlake is still searching for the key to creating a permanent liquid-skin formula to repair his burned face and hands. After Westlake, as his alter-ego Darkman, stops a criminal exchange spearheaded by corrupt businessman and crime boss Peter Rooker, he is approached by Dr. Bridget Thorne. Thorne, one of the physicians who saved Westlake's life following his brutal attack at the hands of Robert G. Durant, convinces him that she wants to help perfect his liquid skin, and also repair his nervous system, allowing him to finally regain some of his sensory loss. Using a laboratory Thorne has set up in an abandoned industrial complex, Westlake manages to create a small amount of permanent liquid skin, which does not break down in sunlight as his other samples have.
Thorne then reveals she is actually Rooker's mistress. Rooker arrives and explains that he desires the super-human strength that Westlake has at his disposal. The two plan to use Westlake as a guinea pig to unlock the secrets behind his strength. Westlake is captured and his liquid skin sample and research are taken. Westlake has an electrical shock device implanted in his body and is put through a series of tests. Eventually, he manages to remove the device and escape Rooker's grasp.
Westlake, trying to learn more about Rooker, encounters his neglected wife Angela (Roxann Dawson) and her young daughter, Jenny. At first concerned, he eventually develops feelings for the two upon realizing how lonely and empty his life is. He uses his liquid skin to assume Rooker's identity and pours his energy into being a loving father and husband, including seeing Jenny perform in her school's production of Beauty and the Beast.
Rooker uses the data from Westlake's tests to create a super-strength formula. He gives it to his men, and orders them to assassinate an idealistic district attorney at a public gathering. Westlake arrives and is able to stop the assassination attempt. Rooker, discovering how Westlake has stolen his identity, murders Thorne and takes his own family back to Thorne's laboratory, holding them hostage. He then injects himself with the super-strength formula, and fights Westlake when he comes to rescue Angela and Jenny. Westlake reclaims the sample of permanent liquid skin during the fight, but his research disk is destroyed by Rooker. Darkman finally gets the upper hand and tricks Rooker into falling in an industrial shredder, killing him.
A damaged natural gas line then explodes, causing the lab to catch fire; Westlake is able to save Angela and Jenny, but Jenny's face is terribly burned. Westlake decides to use the liquid skin to repair Jenny's face rather than his own. After Angela thanks Westlake for saving her daughter, he leaves them, vowing to continue his work on the formula while fighting crime as Darkman.
Darkman III: Die Darkman Die is the sister picture to its predecessor, Darkman II: The Return of Durant.[3] Both films were greenlit together by Universal Pictures in 1992, and developed alongside one another.[4]
Darkman III was written by Michael Colleary and Mike Werb.[5] The pair was concurrently polishing their spec scriptFace/Off, which was pitched before the Darkman sequels, but went through a protracted development across two studios, and ended up being filmed after them. Some narrative elements, such as a character taking his arch enemy's facial features and becoming close to the latter's unsuspecting family, are common to both Darkman III and Face/Off.[6]Dark Horse Comics' Mark Verheiden, author of Timecop and its Raimi-produced film adaptation, performed some uncredited rewrites on Darkman III.[7] Verheiden was also the original writer for the Dark Horse adaptation The Mask, to which Werb contributed major script revisions. It is unknown whether the involvement of both men on those two projects is coincidental.[8]
Due to Larry Drake's prior commitments, the sequel he appeared in was scheduled to be shot last, and it was initially assumed that this would be its release order as well. For this reason, Darkman III was known as Darkman II during production.[7][9] However, in a March 1995 interview, actress Roxann Dawson said she was unsure of the film's final title.[10] It was eventually decided to switch the releases around and alter their numbers accordingly, which led to some minor inconsistencies in the now renamed Darkman III, as research concerning synthetic skin is less advanced than in its purported prequel.[6]
Filming
Like The Return of Durant, Die Darkman Die was shot in Toronto, Ontario, and used much of the same crew. Principal photography started on November 15, 1993 and concluded on December 20.[11] The crew then took a break before the shooting of the other instalment. The aggregate budget for both films was slightly less than US$7 million, with Darkman II: The Return of Durant taking up the better part of that amount at US$4 million.[5]
May prioritized key set pieces to make the most of the film's modest means. According to the director, the final factory explosion in Die Darkman Die was the largest in Canadian film history up to that point.[5] However, Verheiden also remembers that a relatively simple scene he had written, where an enraged Darkman bashed a thug's head into the hood of a car, was nixed as the required props and stuntpersons were too expensive.[9]
Release
Home video
Darkman III: Die Darkman Die was released on VHS tape on August 20, 1996.[12] As per industry standards, the Laserdisc followed one week later on August 27.[13]
Die Darkman Die was re-issued on DVD by Universal on January 5, 2004 in the U.S., as part of the budget priced "Universal Studio Selections" collection. It was devoid of features other than a chapter selection.[14] An international pressing predates the domestic version. Listed with a release date of October 23, 2000 in the U.K.,[15] it included a brief biography of lead actor Arnold Vosloo.[16]
Shout! Factory released a Blu-ray of the film on November 7, 2017. It includes a new feature-length audio commentary from director Bradford May and a trailer.[17]
Television
Like its predecessor, Darkman III received a primetimenetwork TV showing on Fox on July 7, 1998, almost one year after Part II, and with similar results. It garnered a 2.7 rating and a 6 share.[18]
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 33% approval rating based on a limited sample of 7 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10.[19]
Jeff Fahey's dual performance as Darkman and Rooker was widely praised. Ian Jane of DVDTalk called the actor "fun as the crazed bad guy",[20] while TV Guide commended him "for creating a new nemesis for Darkman who is not simply a retread of the first two films' sinister Durant".[21]
The film's production values received mixed reviews. TV Guide said "The production boasts impressive visuals in the form of blue screen pyrotechnics and various makeup effects. It is clear that Darkman III is not a mere cash-in on the original's popularity". Ballantine Books's DVD and Video Guide was less impressed, commenting that it had to make do "without the outrageous stunts and hyperkinetic visuals that made the first film so memorable."[22] Richard Scheib of Moria Reviews thought that "the low budget shows through at times".[23]
The film's story was generally viewed as more ambitious than that of Darkman II, although some preferred the more straightforward nature of its predecessor. Alan Jones of the BBC's RadioTimes praised "a well-realised script accenting character as much as explosive gimmicks".[24] Scheib wrote that "where Die Darkman Die does work is in the central character conflict it sets up. The story twists about on a unique dilemma—that of Darkman wearing a mobster’s face as a disguise but in so doing coming to provide the care and attention the mobster never gave his wife and child".[23][25] Hock Teh of IGN also noted that "Darkman III surprised me in a good way by harking back to our hero's emotional state of mind so evident in the first movie."[26] Jane, however, disagreed with the new direction, saying "[w]hile it's interesting to see how the story deals with Darkman's emotional turmoil by throwing Rooker's wife and child into the mix, the story this time around is pretty convoluted.[20] Peter M. Nichols of The New York Times also found that "[b]y contrast [with The Return of Durant], the second sequel, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die, takes a campy approach to a story that seems to be tiring."[27]
Possible sequel
While Darkman II and III were made after Fox passed on a regular TV show based on the character, a May 1995 report by Variety indicated that Universal still considered them as backdoor pilots for a potential series.[28] According to Larry Drake, Raimi also told him that a story was in place for a fourth feature that would see Durant return once more, should the first two sequels be successful.[3] Vosloo stated that he would consider reprising his role, but remained on the fence due to the toll taken on him by extended make-up sessions. After the films, the actor vowed not to take on such effects-intensive work again. He later mollified his stance to appear in The Mummy, although much of that was CGI.[29]
In a May 2022 interview, Raimi acknowledged that Universal was considering a new Darkman film, and had named a producer to oversee the project. His comment pertained to a question about a legacy sequel, suggesting a partial reboot that would ignore the direct-to-video instalments.[30]
^ abSzebin, Frederick C. (December 1994 – January 1995). "Darkman II: Durant Returns". Cinefantastique. Vol. 25, 26, no. 6, 1. New York: Frederick S. Clarke. pp. 36–37, 126.
^ abcSzebin, Frederick C. (December 1995 – January 1996). "Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die". Cinefantastique. Vol. 26, 27, no. 6, 1. New York: Frederick S. Clarke. pp. 36–37, 126.
