Edge of Darkness (2010)

Edge of Darkness is an old-fashioned revenge movie that feels like it was made in the 80’s but has the look of a modern movie.  That’s a compliment though.  It feels nice to watch a film that was intelligently made but wants to do nothing more than entertain.  It feels even better that it was made for adults when it could have easily been converted to a PG-13 film.  I would say it’s director Martin Campbell’s (famous for GoldenEye, Casino Royale, and the Zorro films) most mature film.

The plot of Edge of Darkness moves forward a bit slowly and seriously, but it has bursts of action that are exciting.  Mel Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a Boston homicide detective that loves his daughter but has drifted apart from her over the years.  When Emma (his daughter) comes for a visit, she is murdered in front of him on his front steps.  So of course, it’s time for Craven to figure out why and kill whoever’s responsible.  His investigation into her death uncovers a conspiracy involving a weapons company (the fictional Northmoor), teenage activists, radiation poisoning, and a shady clean up man.  The movie runs thru the thriller motions in a basic fashion, but the plot feels intelligent and logical.  The very well written dialogue didn’t hurt either.  Nor did the totally awesome and bloody climax.

This movie had several strengths.  Mel Gibson is excellent as a vengeful cop with nothing to lose, which is to be expected.  So is Ray Winstone as the clean up man Darius Jedburgh.  Jedburgh is more of a mystery than Craven, and in a lot of ways more interesting.  I was forced to wonder what kind of person Jedburgh really was whenever he was up on screen, though I felt Craven was a more entertaining character.  The few times when both are on screen are some of the movie’s best scenes.  I liked the serious feel of this movie too, it makes everything feel more realistic.  I really loved the shoot ‘em up, bloodly yet realistic ending too.

My only real problem with this movie would be that it is kind of slow in parts.  There seemed to be more quiet talking scenes than action scenes, though some of that dissapointment might be from hearing it was an action packed movie from several film critics.  I also would have liked to learn more about the bond, or lack of one, between Craven and his daughter throughout the movie.  That would have added some more emotion to the preceddings.

All in all, I think this is a solid thriller with good production values that is best to view only once.  I’ve never seen the mini-series it’s based on (which has the same name and director) but I have to believe the movie’s better.  I mean, why stretch the story out longer?  Plus, the main character doesn’t kiss his daughter’s dildo, which he actually does in the mini-series.

Devon says:  B+