I have a big soft spot for Sam Raimi’s fun 90s comicbook-styled movie DARKMAN. And I really enjoyed THE SUBSTANCE, released a few years ago (and absolutely tearing the roof off as the closing film at Frightfest 2023!) I also mostly adore the films and TV shows of Mike Flanagan, who I think is consistently brilliant.
So the question is: Why didn’t I love this movie? Well… It’s certainly not a bad or boring film by any measure. Tom Rhys Harries is a decent enough actor (though he’s no Liam Neeson) and is handsome enough that his descent into twisted flesh and icky biological deformity feels pretty shocking. But the writing is a bit flat and on the nose and it all feels a little more generically comicbook-ish than I was expecting or perhaps hoping for. The PENGUIN series on HBO was a far better example of something that escaped the cliches of that medium and felt genuinely adult and relatable. CLAYFACE, even though it was definitely quite dark and violent and had some truly gruesome body horror moments, never felt quite as grounded and real as even Matt Reeve’s THE BATMAN. It’s an odd one and certainly is a weird choice for a 3rd movie released as part of the James Gunn DC universe reboot. I mean, if you’re going to revive a franchise – it might be worth getting your big hitters (like Wonder Woman, Batman, The Flash etc) set up first. And also – working out which version of the DC universe to set everything in. I mean, is this movie taking place in the same universe as Krypto the Superdog – or the Matt Reeves PENGUIN show? The recent LANTERNS TV show on HBO had the same tonal weirdness, trying to blend serious gritty drama and dark themes with dayglo goofy comicbook superheroes.
So let’s talk about the positives. It’s actually a pretty fun movie once it gets going. The face-swapping powers of the protagonist lead to a lot of entertaining hijinks, especially in the last action sequence. And if you like gore and body horror, this is surprisingly unrestrained for a studio picture. The VFX work (supervised by Angus Bickerton) is excellent and blends CG and prosthetics work very well. There’s a couple of inspired sequences in there that really made the audience squirm with tension and disgust (one involving a pair of scissors on a turbulent airplane ride!) And any film with Eddie Marsan and Rob Brydon in it can’t be all bad! This movie will really test the Venn diagram overlap of DCU comic movie fans and Body horror/gore movie appreciators. I’m actually glad they made it – it’s a bit different to the usual thing you’d expect to see a Studio release. I just wish the writing had been a bit sharper and more original too.
Anyway, it’s solid. I didn’t love it, but it was fairly entertaining and I certainly won’t forget some of the great freaky VFX and makeup work on display. But I want to watch DARKMAN now.
