Darkman is back with Arnold Vosloo (“The Mummy”) taking over from Liam Neeson (“Taken”) as the titular hero. This is a very watchable superhero flick but it does very little to progress the story and nothing here is better than what you got with the original film.

The villainous gangster Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake “Darkman”, “Dr. Giggles”) awakens from a coma and sets his sights on dominating the criminal underworld of the city. Darkman continues his quest to make his synthetic skin last longer and may have found the answer to all his prayers when he befriends another scientist in the same research field.

A lot of criticism was thrown at Arnold Vosloo. Bruce Campbell (“Evil Dead”) had been tipped to play the role for the sequels after his cameo at the end of the first film. I don’t think Vosloo is bad at all but he’s very different from Neeson. The filmmakers obviously didn’t want to pay Neeson a dime as they have even reshot some sequences from the first film with Vosloo to use as flashbacks. This film makes a big deal about the Durant character. I honestly forgot about him entirely and it seems odd that they mention him in the title. It’s not like he’s on par with The Joker or Lex Luthor, he’s just a generic mobster. None of the other characters are particularly memorable.

The special effects and the action sequences are definitely a downgrade from the first movie and it does take a little bit of time to adjust to Vosloo in the role. There is so much here that is just recycled from the first film that it becomes hard to think of any real reason to see it. For what it is, it’s not a bad movie but it is forgettable.