Darkman 2: The Return of Durant on AllMovie

Darkman is up to his old tricks. He's robbing from the criminals and keeping for himself so he can further perfect his synthetic skin which dissolves after 99 minutes in the light. His old arch-nemesis, Robert Durrant (Larry Drake) returns, having survived the helicopter crash in the first film. Durant attempts to rebuild his crumbling empire by devising a new particle gun to sell on the market. After Durant kills a young scientist for his warehouse, Darkman goes on a rampage, vowing to destroy Durant once and for all. Darkman concocts masks of his enemies and infiltrates Durant's gang, turning everyone on themselves. This sequel is above the typical direct-to-video quality and director May has captured Raimi's comic-book style, but the energy that propelled the original is sorely missing here. Welcome back is Drake who once again astonishes with a gleefully maniacal performance, rightfully stealing the show. Replacing the title character is Arnold Vosloo, who coolly plays Darkman without the enraged melodramatics Liam Neeson brought to his portrayal of the tormented hero. This sequel was actually filmed after Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die but was released on video first despite the fact that Universal thought it looked good enough to release into theaters.