Edge of Darkness
Mel Gibson in Edge of Darkness
I’d been waiting for this movie for ages. I am a great fan of Mel Gibson’s work. Yes, he was a looker in the 70s-90s but the reason he became an A-lister had a lot to do with his talent. Want proof? Go see Edge of Darkness. Mel is no longer fit or pretty. But the intensity he brings to such roles is a ll there and he is so good, he lives and breathes through his character.
Craven is a police detective, happy to have his 24-year-old daughter Emma back home again. But he can only enjoy this event for about 5 minutes. His daughter is killed, right in front of him, and there are signs that indicate the intended victim was Craven. But Craven knows he doesn’t have enemies. So the deeper he digs, the more he realizes that they really did aim at Emma. Craven is haunted by the images of his daughter and does his best to stay focused. Emma worked in a company that dealt with nuclear energy. Obviously she was going to expose something. She wasn’t the only one murdered and the company is determined to get rid of everyone who gets in the way…
Does it sound ordinary? Trust me, it is not. The movie does not waste any scene. There are no unneccessary lines. Craven is your hero but he does not go all Rambo on us like Liam Neeson did in Taken. Don’t get me wrong, I love taken. It is an amazing thriller. But Edge of Darkness is a wonderfully dark drama with interesting characters and events that you don’t see coming, or events that you know that will happen but they still manages to shock you with “how”. It is heavy but only because it intends to be. Craven is smart and his actions are very humane. He is your hero all the way. This movie is not about who the good guy is. We know who he is. We know who the bad guys are. We also have another (Ray Winstone) leading character whose motives are not all that clear.
See this movie and you will know what I am talking. Yes, the father is after answers and vengeance. But how the concept is dealt with is very refreshing. This is a very solid drama with disturbing tension. I have to add this movie to my all time favorites.
I am glad to have Mel back. He picks great scripts (with a couple of exceptions) and puts his heart and soul into it.
Keep your expectations straight. There is no romance or no eye candy for either gender. There are no action sequences or no special effects. It is all about the story and the direction and the acting. And it is not surprising that the movie is great because of these three.
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I really didn’t like how so much of the exposition was left out of the film, it was all implied, and so much of the story was left out, I loved the scenes with his daughter, as memories from the past, but the whole is she a ghost, is it his mind etc. got old.
Assuming she was a ghost, why not just tell him what he needed to know? I liked the Captain’s character, but so much of it was classified, and I hated that crap IRL, so when even my FANTASY is rife with “It’s classified.” – spare me that crap.
Also, SO SO SO sick of the predictable, “evil US govt” being the badguys, are there no better boogymen anymore, jeezus! I want to see an original script, but yes, the scene at the end with the execution of the badguys was uniquely done, and well done, I just didn’t think it was one of my favorite Gibson films. Take any of the Lethal Weapons, Man Without a Face or Conspiracy Theory over this one any day.
* Well, she wasn’t a ghost. He just needed some spiritual guidance and she was the most important thing in his life, ever. Imagine losing your daughter like that. Surely you’d need some serious therapy. But then, he didn’t have time for it, did he? He owed it to her and to himself that he should catch the bad guys and make them pay. So she couldn’t have told him anything- she was just memories and a way to keep him sane.
* I thought the script wasn’t unoriginal. Usually they either knowingly kill the cop’s beloved someone to get to him (Lethal Weapon 1,2) or they mistakenly kill him/her and the cop comes to kick their ass. I liked it that she was who they were after. And why wouldn’t US government be the bad guys? After all this is an American movie, it looks pretty cool.
* I loved that Mel Gibson didn’t turn into a killing machine or a genius. He was smart, and he used all his anger and everything made sense.
* The International stars Clive Owen and the bad guys are pretty international.
* I am pretty happy that this is what he chose to come back with. And I loved how it ended. Very refreshing.
* Ray Winstone’s character was cool and I really liked him.
* I think another refreshing thing was that there was no romance and no eye-candy. How many other drama/thrillers do that?
I am sorry, I am struggling to find something I didn’t like about the movie. But I can’t. It was haunting, intense and I loved it. Not more than the movies you listed but probably just as much. You can check out my collective reviews of Mel Gibson’s best here if you like:
http://pinartarhan.com/blog/mel-gibsons-10-best-movies/
http://cinemaroll.com/cinemarolling/11-great-mel-gibson-films-you-should-consider-watching/