History Film / Darkman

* RealityEnsues: We get a double dose of this. The first instance happens when Westlake confronts the BigBad. Naturally, the villain erupts into a VillainousBreakdown, cursing his enemy for all the destruction that was done to his organization, right? Wrong. This is a slick, savvy corrupt businessman who only used Durant and his cronies as hired muscle and knows full well how useful a BadassAbnormal who can impersonate others could be to him. Unfortunately for him, the borderline psychotic vigilante who has ''already'' personally disposed of his underlings still has a ''bit'' of an issue with him since he was the one ultimately responsible for ruining his life.

* SuperHero: a rare example that is native to the film medium.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_darkman_movie_poster.png]] [[caption-width-right:300:''[[TagLine "In the darkest hour, there is a light that shines on every human being...but ONE!"]]'']]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_darkman_movie_poster.png]]

A decade before Creator/SamRaimi brought a certain [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy web-head to the big screen]], he created his own superhero in this 1990 film. It stars Creator/LiamNeeson as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who has invented synthetic skin that, at its current stage of development, will disintegrate after 99 minutes of exposure to sunlight. His girlfriend, Julie (Creator/FrancesMcDormand), runs afoul of gangster Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake) and his thugs, who have him nearly killed. Peyton, now horrifically burnt, uses his own invention against the crooks as his new alter-ego, Darkman.

%%* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Skip and Rudy.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Darkman got his revenge on the criminals who ruined his life but he is now a creature of the night who can never return to the normal world.]]

* EyesAreUnbreakable: With all the severe facial damage Westlake gets, ''including being on the point-blank range of an explosion and being dipped head-first in a big vat of acid'', it's impressive that he didn't got any ocular damage.

** Having the muscles on the fingers burnt down to the bone as shown in the movie would render them almost completely immobile.

* {{Gayngster}}: [[AmbiguouslyGay Possibly]]. There's a hint in the deli scene that Durant may have a thing for Rick, plus he has no kids and some of the fingers he's collection belonged to women.

* RealityEnsues: We get a double dose of this. The first instance happens when Westlake confronts the BigBad. Naturally, the villain erupts into a VillainousBreakdown, cursing his enemy for all the destruction that was done to his organization, right? Wrong. This is a slick, savvy corrupt businessman who only used Durant and his cronies as hired muscle and knows full well how useful a BadassAbnormal with shapeshifting techniques could be to him. Unfortunately for him, the borderline psychotic vigilante who has ''already'' personally disposed of his underlings still has a bit of an issue with him since he was the one ultimately responsible for everything that had happened thus far.

** The carnival also has funhouse mirrors, in which the spectators' reflection seem to be mocking Peyton. Also not helping is a carnival barker unveiling a deformed freak the moment Peyton was about to tell Julie the truth, claiming he was the result of a lab accident.

-->'''Durant:''' Now, let's consider my points one by one. ''(snips off a finger)'' One: I try not to let my anger get the better of me. ''(snips off a finger)'' Two: I don't always succeed. ''(snips off a finger)'' Three: I've got seven more points.

Years before Creator/SamRaimi brought a certain [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy web-head to the screen]], he created his own superhero in this 1990 film. It stars Creator/LiamNeeson as Peyton Westlake, a scientist who has invented synthetic skin that, at its current stage of development, will disintegrate after 99 minutes of exposure to sunlight. His girlfriend, Julie (Creator/FrancesMcDormand), runs afoul of gangster Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake) and his thugs, who have him nearly killed. Peyton, now horrifically burnt, uses his own invention against the crooks as his new alter-ego, Darkman.

%%* FaceFramedInShadow

In 2006, Dynamite Entertainment produced a four-part IntercontinuityCrossover miniseries ''ComicBook/DarkmanVsArmyOfDarkness'', which sees Darkman teaming up with Ash Williams from the ''Franchise/EvilDead'' franchise.

* BadassBookworm: Originally a milquetoast personality, Peyton undergoes surgeries that remove the volume control knob from his emotions, turning him into a loud, violent rageaholic who's heart is as big as his temper and just as sensative. He still possesses the know-how from his days as a scientist, though.

** In the third film, a character named Dr. Bridget Thorne is is introduced and is stated to be one of the doctors who treated Westlake's burned body.

* FacialHorror: Peyton's ''severely'' burnt face.

* WhatTheHellHero: Julie was disturbed seeing Peyton's face mask dissolve. Then she tells him he (who's hiding) should have told her the truth, and that she would have understood.

* ScreamingWoman: A hooker screams as Pauly fell to his death on a car in front of her. She screams again when she saw Darkman disguised as Pauly.

* BlessedWithSuck: The treatment which made him super-humanly strong, agile, and impervious to pain also amplified his emotions to the point that he's in a near-constant state of uncontrollable rage and despair. Also, he apparently has no sense of touch due to surgery that cut off that sense so he wouldn't suffer from the constant pain from the burns covering his body. This in turn caused his brain to amplify his emotional responses to fill in the void left by that lack of external stimulus.

* BlessedWithSuck: The treatment which made him super-humanly strong, agile, and impervious to pain also amplified his emotions to the point that he's in a near-constant state of uncontrollable rage and despair. Also, he apparently has no sense of touch due to surgery that cut off that sense in order to constant pain from the burns covering his body. This in turn caused his brain to amplify his emotional responses to fill in the void left by that lack of external stimulus.

** Creator/TheCoenBrothers are seen driving Raimi's [[OncePerEpisode '73 Oldsmobile]] that Darkman yells "Watch out!" to as he's hung from Durant's 'chopper.

* DeathByIrony: Durant sets the lab to explode using a drinking bird. Later, Darkman does the same with his makeshift lab to Durant's mook Smiley. Smiley tries to stop it but it's a hologram. He keeps trying to grab it, and finds out too late that touching the hologram [[OhCrap sets off the real bomb very quickly]].