Henry Saw: Edge of Darkness

Meh...The BBC series must be better...


Mel Gibson is back! And guess what? He's out for revenge! He's Mad, he has Lethal Weapons, and a Brave Heart. He's no Hamlet, he knows exactly what he has to do, and that's get some Payback. He deals with some Conspiracy Theories, goes through some Patriots, and something something something Ransom. I could keep going but I think you probably get the idea. This isn't new ground for Mel Gibson, who is staring in a film for the first time in eight years, but there is something entertaining and comforting in seeing Mel dole out justice in the name of a dead family member.

In Edge of Darkness that would be his 24 year old daughter who is shot outside his home while visiting for the weekend. Because he's a cop with the Boston Police Department, it is assumed by his fellow officers that he was the target and his daughter was collateral damage. That doesn't add up for Mel and he starts investigating the company his daughter was working for and how it might be connected to her murder. That company, the ominous Northmoor International, is run by Bennet (Danny Huston) who is clearly a villain of the highest order. Along the way Mel also meets Jedburgh (played by the reliable Ray Winstone) who is a fixer of sorts for the government. We're not sure where Jedburgh's allegiances truly lie as he seems to be playing both sides and helping Mel get the truth about his daughter and Northmoor.



Edge of Darkness is directed by Martin Campbell (Who directed the original 1980's miniseries and 2006's Casino Royale) and it is a finely put together thriller. The problem is that there is nothing new here. Almost all the beats are easy to predict (except for anything with Jedburgh who is a wild card) and it's surprisingly dull. At one point Mel is meeting one of his daughter's friends and something semi-surprising and exciting happens and my cousin, who I saw the movie with, muttered "Oh, it's finally a movie." He had a point...for a great deal of its running time Edge of Darkness feels like it is just trying to get to the ending (if that makes sense). Maybe Martin Campbell was bored remaking his superior mini-series but a lot of the film feels like it is going through the motions.

The cast is fine...Mel is Mel and Winstone is Winstone. Danny Huston is not a compelling baddie (he peaked in The Constant Gardener and The Proposition and has been replaying those two roles ever since) and the rest of the cast is a bunch of "that guys". The writing is a bit into itself (it's by William Monahan who also wrote The Departed) and doesn't have the sharpness of Monahan's previous work.



This really is a bland and boring film. The direction is perfunctory, the script is blah, and the acting is fairly paint by numbers. I cannot think of a reason to recommend this movie but I can't slam it either. It's all okay...but for some reason Edge of Darkness never comes together. Skip it.

Grade: C

Best Scene: Mel versus a speeding car...