It's more of the same from the Renaissance stable, except where the first film had a unique visual style and ferocity thanks to director Sam Raimi, a journeyman director brings nothing new to this movie and only succeeds in ripping off his predecessor. The story has been changed to make way for new characters here but it's still the same hijinks with Darkman disguising himself and infiltrating the enemy camp just as he has done previously. They even throw in a scientist torture scene almost exactly the same as the one in the original.Liam Neeson had become too big a star for a low budget movie like this in the four years since the first film, so the lead role was taken by Arnold Vosloo, who had already made an impact as the villainous henchman in Van Damme's excellent HARD TARGET. To be fair, I've always liked Vosloo in his films, even if his acting ability is somewhat limited. The only problem is that he doesn't bring much in the way of freshness to the role, instead happily copying Neeson's performance in every possible way. Larry Drake also returns from the first one as the film's villain and gives a great, hissably evil pantomime performance with lots of one liners in his own inimitable style, and he's the best thing in this film. I just wish they could explain how he escaped from inside an exploding helicopter with only a few scars.As for Drake's henchmen, they don't have personalities and are just there to look cool and imposing, which they do. Some of the performers show a surprising comic touch but nobody really shines. Female interest comes from the familiar Kim Delaney, as a cocky reporter, and Renee O'Connor, better known these days as Gabrielle from XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. It's interesting to watch O'Connor in a different role but you quickly realise why she has been relegated to just one television series instead of becoming a major star: she's an actress just impossible to take seriously! There are enough explosions, fights, shoot-outs and basic plot intrigue to make this watchable, but in all it's a bit of a mess. If only they had added to Darkman's character instead of giving him a few one-liners to convey his suffering which are just variations on Neeson's script. We don't learn anything new about any of the characters at all here, we just watch their actions, there's no depth which at least the original had. By all accounts the third film in this series is even worse, so it's probably best give that one a miss as well. This is a passable but disappointing film which just comes across as a slapdash rehash of the superior DARKMAN more than anything else.

Inferior sequel to Darkman has the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie. It was, in fact, straight-to-video. So you can figure what kind of quality you're looking at here. There's a new actor in the title role (Arnold Vosloo) and he's particularly unexciting. The plot is pretty thin and is just an excuse to have Robert Durant (Larry Drake) return, despite having been killed at the end of the first movie. Larry Drake's campy performance is the best thing about this sequel. "Xena" fans might enjoy seeing Renee O'Connor in an early role. This was shot back-to-back with Darkman III: Die Darkman Die. Neither film is as good as the first. This is completely lacking in any of the craftsmanship or artistry that went into making Darkman.

Bradford May takes over directing duties from Sam Raimi in this sequel, which also sees Arnold Vosloo take over the role of Peyton Westlake/Darkman, who is still trying to perfect his synthetic skin formula, in order to rebuild his life, but that plan is disrupted by the return of Durant, the evil gangster responsible for ruining his life. Durant did not die in the helicopter explosion, but instead survived in a coma, and after he awakens, seeks to rebuild his power by kidnapping an insane genius who can build him a powerful laser weapon.Arnold Vosloo isn't a bad replacement for Liam Neeson(who is still missed) but sequel is pretty standard stuff, with the unlikely survival of Durant stretching things; though Larry Drake is still good, film isn't, though there would be one more, filmed at the same time.

Not an entirely bad sequel, just nothing all that great. It passed the time quite nicely just really not enough substance this time around though and the absence of Liam Neeson hurts. Granted, it would have been a waste of time getting him back for just a direct to video sequel. The story has Durant back and once again he is played by Larry Drake, no surprise they were able to get that actor back. Drake is okay in small doses and as a villain, he really is not a headliner though. The guy who played the mummy in the mummy movies is Darkman this time and while not as good as Neeson he is not bad. Once again Darkman is on the verge of making his synthetic skin work and last in the sun and once again Durant screws everything up this time taking out a guy who was working on the same thing. There is a lot of Darkman playing with Durant's mind as he is trying to pull everyone's face off in fear it is Darkman and then there is a rather weak conclusion. They bring him back from the dead basically and then do not have some super showdown at the end like one might expect. Still, it is entertaining enough to keep one occupied, however it is not anything I would go hunting down to watch either.