“Edge of Darkness” Review

Filed Under Movies

More than seven years after M. Night Shyamalan’s ending to “Signs” — ranked by statisticians as the number one cause of facepalm in 2002 — drove Mel Gibson into a religious frenzy, the actor returns to the silver screen as yet another slightly unhinged bereaved man in Martin Campbell’s “Edge of Darkness.”

Gibson plays Det. Thomas Craven, no relation to Wes unfortunately, whose daughter is gunned down by a masked assailant after she becomes violently ill with an acute case of spewing up fake movie vomit. Craven’s fellow cops on the Boston PD believe that he was the intended target, but when he starts to do a little digging, Craven uncovers a conspiracy that his daughter was caught up in, one that involves a shadowy weapons manufacturer, an oily Republican senator and Ray Winstone.

The film is based on a BBC mini-series, also directed by Campbell, and feels a little condensed. The brief flashes of violence liven up lengthy sequences of info dump, as Craven sits down with various exposition-spouting functionary characters who are either promptly killed or severely maimed. One of the major problems movies like this has is that it’s overly complicated. Too many characters round out the cast, and the conspiracy doesn’t make much sense. When radioactive milk sets up the movie’s ticking clock, you have to start wondering what you got yourself into when you bought your ticket to a big-budget revenge flick.

There’s just not much here that feels fresh. The corporate weasel is of course a bad guy. Hell, he has Photoshopped pictures of himself with George W. Bush and Nancy Pelosi; tea-baggers’ heads will no doubt explode at the sight. The jug-eared politician is of course a bad guy. Hell, he’s a Republican and he wears a track suit. The only real surprise in the film is that the Boston PD pretty much lets Craven do whatever he wants while investigating his daughter’s murder. And therein lies one of the film’s biggest problems. The issue doesn’t really seem insurmountable when the hero has the BPD at his beck and call. Rather, the film simply marks time until Craven has enough information to justify in his own mind the shooting spree he goes on at the climax.

I found “Edge of Darkness” to be diverting but not wholly involving. It certainly isn’t “Taken 2,” which I think is how Warner Bros. is trying to sell it; the film’s even dropping in late-January like Liam Neeson’s revenger did last year. This is one of those movies that might do some business but is pretty unremarkable. Will it propel Gibson back to the top of the A-list? Who’s to say? It’s a definitely not a return to form for the actor. He’s too old to comfortably slip into the wild man persona he cultivated with the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon films. It’s good to see him back on the screen, but next time, I hope he selects stronger material.

-Brad Lohan

If you like this post, share it!