Liam Neeson Plus Comic Book Movie Equals........

     So I did just happen to see this again today and it has been friggin' ages since I last saw it.  I do remember when I was about 16 or 17 when the trailers for this were on TV, it looked awesome.  I also remember it being awesome when I watched it in the theater back then.  At this point there weren't very many comic book movies out that were not made for TV.  Unless you are one of the very lucky that got to see that spectacular version of the Fantastic Four that really was never released but you can see it on the internet now.  Anyway I digress, Darkman, Based on a comic book and directed by Sam Raimi.  Now this is the Sam Raimi that majority of people know for doing the 3 Spider-man films in the last decade, but to people like me he is the man that made The Evil Dead trilogy that started in the 80's.
     So this movie Darkman is starring Liam Neeson and he plays the title character, and normally I would say that that is a recipe for success considering his more recent films are pretty great.  But in this he is incredibly overacting to the point of almost making a person laugh.  Well most of the male starring cast over exaggerates every single little emotion so don't blame Neeson for the whole thing.   France McDormand plays the female lead, actually I think she may have been the only female in the entire film.  She does pretty good for the limited screen time she has.
     The story is, like I said before, from a comic book and since it is an origin story guess what that means.....Yep, something bad has to happen then the character is changed then he finds super powers of sorts.  Same as all the other ones just this one didn't get as much recognition because it wasn't released in the comic book boom that started in 2000.  But it would have been crushed today if it came out in the state it's in.
     On to the effects.  Now the practical effects are actually really good considering they were done about 20 years ago.  But in all honesty they are done well.  Okay now the CGI that is in this film sticks out like....well CGI in a movie released in 1994.  It is very ugly and this would have been so much better if it weren't for the god awful computer effects.  They should have stuck with all practical.
     All in all I would only recommend this movie if you have a profound love for comic book films or your a Liam Neeson completionist or some such thing.  I like it because of the comic connection and I do normally enjoy Neeson's films but he is kinda embarrassing in it.  So not alot to draw in people but at the very least Grab some popcorn and have a laugh with friends.