Back in 1990, after not being able to get a Shadow film made, Same Raimi did the next best thing — he made his own comic book hero. Of course, Raimi's hero did not have an actual comic book to draw from; this was a comic book movie without the comic book. It proved to be a box office hit, taking in more than $33 million at the box office before finding even more success on the rental market.

With that success under its belt, Universal green-lit a pair of direct-to-video sequels, the first bearing the subtitle, The Return of Durant (of course, you knew that already, having read the title of the review). Well, if we are to follow superhero conventions, the original served to tell the origin tale, and the second should tell the first full-on adventure of said hero, as well as introduce an archnemesis. Darkman and its sequel prove to successfully follow that formula for success. However, that does not tell the full story. The sequel fails to be terribly compelling, falling short in a few key areas.

Let us first quickly cover the story before getting to the problems.

The title says all that needs be said about our bad guy. In the first film, we were introduced to Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake), and while he was not the number one baddie of the original, he proved to have a personality and a presence big enough to fill the role of archnemesis. However, Durant was killed in a helicopter explosion — or was he? We learn early on that the fiery crash merely put him into a coma for a few years. He awakens with a start and proceeds to put his criminal organization back on top, and he will stop at nothing to achieve that goal.

Meanwhile, Peyton Westlake (Arnold Vosloo) has continued his research into synthetic skin, still seeking a way to break the 99 minute barrier. At the same time, he has also become something of an anti-crime crusader. He demonstrates his new calling by getting involved in a drug deal/car chase gone bad immediately following the credits.

As the two stories develop, the two eventually cross paths, reigniting Peyton's desire to have revenge upon the man directly responsible for his current state. Durant is also intent on eliminating anyone who would prove a problem, and Peyton is a big obstacle to his success.

This eventually leads to a confrontation between the two, spurred on by the involvement of another doctor working on replacement skin, which ties into the scientific side of our hero. Who will walk away? Will this be the last meeting between the two? Watch the film to find out.

Now, I said there were some problems, and I was not lying.

The first was probably unavoidable. Liam Neeson does not return to the role of the deformed Darkman. He is replaced by The Mummy's future baddie, Arnold Vosloo. With this recasting in place, they did a little rewriting of history. In the opening recap of the first film, the reshot some footage with Vosloo taking over the spot formerly held by Neeson. Now, I don't have a problem with Vosloo, I think he is a good character actor; the problem is that they did not even try to match Neeson. I found it a bit disconcerting seeing Vosloo and hearing his accent as Peyton Westlake. Quite frankly, he did not offer the presence nor the scientist-like vibe that Neeson had. They also move the Darkman character into more of a superhero, complete with unique mode of transportation and a secret lair. It did not feel like a natural fit for our hero.