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For the first time in eight years, Mel Gibson has stepped back in front of the camera with this adaptation of the 1985 British mini-series Edge of Darkness. Penned by William Monahan and Andrew Bovell, the film unsurprisingly truncates and simplifies the six-episode mini-series; keeping the basic premise of the small screen original but concentrating more on Gibson's brand of primal rage. While the trailers and general marketing implied the film to be akin to Taken, Edge of Darkness is a far more sedate and verbose type of thriller; serving up scenes of heavy exposition occasionally punctuated by instances of shocking violence.
The narrative of the mini-series is transposed from England to Boston, where we're introduced to lonely veteran police detective Tom Craven (Gibson). Tom is delighted when his beloved daughter Emma (Novakovic) arrives for a visit, yet this delight soon turns to horror when a hooded gunman arrives on his door-step and blows a hole through Emma's chest. While common wisdom would indicate Tom was the real mark but his daughter was caught in the crossfire, the bereaving father suspects otherwise. This incident launches Tom on a single-minded mission to uncover the truth behind his daughter's murder.
Viewers expecting an adrenaline rush from Edge of Darkness will to be disappointed. There are bursts of enthralling action, sure, but they're surrounded by long, tedious periods where not a great deal actually happens. Slow expository scenes to set up deeper aspects of the story are certainly necessary, as well as time alone with Tom as he laments over the loss of his daughter, but they're not taut enough. Too often, scenes reach their logical conclusion only for it to continue dragging on and on, to the point that even the actors seem to be wondering why they are still there. In addition to this, the film is overstuffed with characters and locations. The premise becomes far too unnecessarily complicated and drawn-out, which is especially troublesome because there aren't enough twists to justify the long runtime. Worse, once the ending is at long last reached, it all feels far too simplified and rushed; as if the writers reached a certain point, realised the script was running too long, and searched for the easiest solution. The enterprise is further marred by the lack of truly complex characters - the motivations of Jedburgh (Winstone) are unclear, reducing the role to a deus ex machina. Tom Craven is believably depicted, but he too regularly imagines his daughter is still there with him. While cute at first, it fast becomes cheesy.
Midway through the movie, when Craven decides he will no longer take crap off anybody, we get glimpses of what Edge of Darkness could have been. For all his time off, Gibson can still kick ass with the best of them. There are a number of death-dealing moments here, including an exhilarating blood-drenched climax and a few nifty stunts. These serve as a decent pay-off for a movie that has meandered far too much. Thankfully, the material is moderately well handled by director Martin Campbell. Interestingly, the man got his big break helming the BBC mini-series on which this film is based, and then proceeded to direct such movies as GoldenEye, Casino Royale, and the two Zorro films. Campbell has tackled this material with a minimum of fussiness; primarily relying on Mel Gibson's screen presence and the raw intensity of the story.
For Mel Gibson, Edge of Darkness represents something of a comeback. The last picture he headlined was 2002's Signs - eight years ago, when he was among Hollywood's elite. Since Signs, Mel concentrated on directing movies rather than starring in them. Having stayed out of the spotlight for almost four years (Apocalypto was the last film he was involved in), Gibson elected to return to the screen here by playing another version of his well-established screen persona: a brutal, revenge-minded cop. Ultimately, the movie never takes Gibson out of his comfort zone, but we easily buy him as Tom Craven. His performance (which is closer to his character from Payback than anything else) is easily the best part of the movie.
The remainder of the cast is a mixed bag. Ray Winstone, who plays a corporate 'fixer' struggling to decide which side of the fence to come down on, submits an enthralling performance, and comes across as both gruffly sophisticated and subtly sinister. Danny Huston's performance as the villain is disappointingly bland, and represents one of the film's weakest aspects. The only other performances of note are courtesy of Australian actress Bojana Novakovic who plays Emma Craven, and Caterina Scorsone whose scene to shine is simply a masterpiece of escalating tension and enthralling character interaction.
In the 25 years since the original Edge of Darkness mini-series, dozens of similar conspiracy thrillers have reached both the big and small screen, which leaves this particular motion picture laughably clichéd and at times utterly naff. These days, it'd be more of a surprise if large companies weren't involved in shady meetings and backroom dealings with the government. What should have been a straightforward revenge flick develops into something more complicated and roundabout, and ultimately less interesting. Edge of Darkness remains passable entertainment thanks to Gibson's formidable performance and Campbell's directorial flair, but it's a flawed example of mainstream entertainment.
5.7/10
