#Review: EDGE OF DARKNESS
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Awesome Applesauce: Charles Quevedo
EDGE OF DARKNESS (based on a British drama miniseries on BBC), starts off with a beautiful scenic view of the Connecticut River in the darkness (a power plant seen in the background). The murky water is flat and calm, strange bubbles suddenly erupt; then, three unidentified bodies rise to the surface, floating like unwanted scraps of trash. That's one hell of a visual in the first two minutes that really catches the audience's attention.
Next, we see widower and veteran Boston Homicide Detective, "Thomas Craven" (played by actor, Mel Gibson), picking up his grown-up daughter, "Emma" (played by actress, Bojana Novakovic), from the airport. He nervously awaits her arrival, not having seen her for a very long time. As soon as they greet each other with smiles and hugs, you can tell they've always had a special relationship. Outside the airport, in the pouring rain, Thomas is immediately concerned for Emma as she vomits up blood while she is about to get in the car. When back at the house, Emma's health continues getting worse, painfully vomiting up more blood over the dinner table. Panicking, Thomas sets out to drive Emma to the hospital. Emma wants to tell her father a secret before leaving, but Thomas rushes her towards the front door. As they step onto the front porch, voice is heard shouting the word "Craven!" (their last name). They both look in the direction of the voice and see a masked figure; a shotgun in hand as the masked man shoots! Emma is shot in the chest and is sent flying backwards, crashing through the front door (probably one of the best "getting shot" scenes in cinema). Emma lies on the floor, blood oozing out from her mouth. She dies in her father's arms moments later.
We later see an army of uniformed police officers and civilian-clothed detectives standing around the inside of Thomas' house (some of them investigating the crime, some just wanting to be there to console Detective Craven for his loss), but he just wants to be left alone. Hours later, in the upstairs bathroom, he wipes his face and hands with a wet washcloth. He stops and realizes he is actually washing off his daughter's blood (the only part of his daughter he has left). Thomas then carefully rolls up the blood-soaked washcloth and gently tucks it into a drinking glass sitting on the bathroom counter (a heartbreaking moment).
Instead of dealing with the loss of a loved one, Thomas goes straight into "cop mode", his silent anger fueling his desire for vengeance. Believing that he was the target of a botched murder attempt, he combs through the files of criminals he had put to prison. But as he delves deeper into his investigation, the "evidence" -- A pistol and a radiation detector among Emma's belongings... A mysterious hang-up phone call on Emma's cell phone (which Thomas traces to one of his daughter's acquaintances)... A shadowy government "cleaner"-type agent called, "Jedburgh" (played by actor, Ray Winstone), who provides information about Emma's possible involvement with an environmental terrorist group -- all points to Emma being the attended target all along. With a razor-sharp focus on finding his daughter's murderer, Thomas follows the clues where it leads him. He interviews individuals (not holding back in his interrogation techniques, even punching a couple of them in the face) that Emma spent time with in the last few weeks before her death. Thomas is lead to "Northmoore", a top-secret nuclear facility (with loads of government contracts) where Emma worked. As Thomas peels back the layers of secrets Emma kept from him and certain of his daughter's acquaintances are killed off one-by-one, he realizes that the whole thing is much bigger than he thought, revealing a government conspiracy and cover-up.
EDGE OF DARKNESS is probably Mel Gibson's darkest movie yet (the title being appropriate). The "Thomas Craven" character mercilessly shoots and kills the bad guys that go after him (in an attempt to keep him quiet from what he uncovers). The line, "You had better decide whether you're the one hangin' on the cross ... or bangin' in the nails.", will probably go down in cinema history as one of the most original Dirty Harry-like lines ever heard (I kinda got a shiver from it myself).
It was nice to see Mel Gibson's return to the big-screen, after being absent in front of the camera for 8 years (M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" being the last movie he acted in). I was often amused at Gibson's attempt of a Boston-bred accent (which to me, made him sound like the "Archie Bunker" character from the "All In The Family" TV series). When he says, "Did you kill my dautah?" ... a huge smile stretched across my face (because the accent sounded so authentic). Gibson still has his acting chops, showing the same kind of dark intensity in his eyes and attitude as he did in his earlier action movies like "Mad Max,” “Payback,” “Braveheart,” “Ransom,” and the first "Lethal Weapon.”
Director, Martin Campbell, who blew us away with his previously directed James Bond flick, "Casino Royale,” does a less impressive job in this modern-day film-noir. This movie definitely isn't kept simple. Midway through, it loses its focus. It jumps around wildly, digs a deep hole, and traps itself there with topics like "terrorism", "Homeland Security", "politics", "disarming of nuclear weapons", and "the afterlife". They should've just made a straight-forward "Death Wish"-type vengeance movie about a grieving father who's willing to bulldoze over everybody responsible for his daughter's brutal murder. Instead, they slow down the hard-driven action scenes with melodramatic ones (for example: Thomas often having flashbacks of Emma as the cute little girl he remembered and even talking to her in hallucination-type sequences). There are also some plot holes that left me shrugging my shoulders at and asking questions (possible spoiler alert)... "Why would the bad guys poison somebody, then shoot him/her later?"... "Why didn't the radiation detector go off for Thomas when he had already unknowingly ingested some radiated poison?".
At the climax, there is a ruthless "take-no-prisoners" shoot 'em up scene that redeems the movie a bit. Just don't expect any of the main characters to be left standing at the end (oops, another spoiler).
I liked EDGE OF DARKNESS well enough, but it could've been so much better. As a whole, the movie is a nice attempt at an intense mystery-action-thriller, but it doesn't hit the mark completely. It takes you to the edge... and kinda leaves you dangling there.
Edge Of Darkness: 7.5 out of 10 rating.
Follow Charles on Twitter here: @FuglyCharlie