Review of Edge of Darkness (2010) by James S — 05 Oct 2012

The main problem with Edge of Darkness is that it's not so much a "revenge" thriller as it is a "I'm going to look moody for a bit and then I might slag you off to my friends" thriller. Compared to when Mel Gibson has had retribution on his mind in previous films, this all feels just that bit reserved. Maybe that's old age for you?

Mel is a cop (naturally) who takes a certain exception to his daughter getting a shot gun round in the chest and sets out to find out just what, how and why she's been brutally slaughtered. His investigation leads him to a shady government organisation run by Danny Huston who may be up to no good with nuclear materials. But come on, the place is being run by Danny Huston......of course they're going to be dodgy.

There are a few nice moments through out the film. Gibson's flashbacks to earlier times with his daughter are quite nice ane mildly touching. There's a one pretty cool action moment when a character is totalled getting out of a car but the rest of the time, you can;t help but feel like the film is dragging its feet.

It seems to take an age for anything to really happen and Gibson seems remarkably calm for a man who has just lost his only child. He wanders back into work the next day as though almost nothing has happened. It's a far cry from Martin Riggs pulling a house down with his truck in Lethal Weapon 2.

Adding to Edge of Darkness' woes is that the story doesn't really deliver any kind of twists that you feel it ought to. Everything is just rather pedestrian as it limps towards a very down beat conclusion.

It could be said that to have Mel Gibson running around taking out the bad guys just wouldn't gel anymore, that he is, to borrow Roger Murtaugh's catch phrase, "too old for this sh*t". If that was the case then Edge of Darkness should not have kept hinting that he's about to go all Mad Max and kept this as a more low key, investigative thriller. As it stands, it's like we're always just waiting for Mel to get his breath back before the action can continue.

Not horrible by any means, but those wanting a decent, tightly plotted revenge story would do better to watch Ransom again.