Mel Gibson returns to a leading role in Edge of Darkness with an esteemed crew. There’s the director of one of the best Bond films, GoldenEye (I’ll take it over the non-Bond-esque but still enjoyable Casino Royale). One of the screenwriters is William Monohan, who gained an Oscar for stealing… taking the screenplay from Mou gaan dou (Infernal Affairs) and adapting it to The Departed. With all of this talent it’s safe to assume a competent job, but the title is such an obvious prelude to a dim experience.
While visiting her father, Emma Craven (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down. As the only witness and one of Boston’s finest, Tom Craven (Mel Gibson) goes to work as the daddy of revenge. Meanwhile, the culprits enlist the help of the mysterious Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) to keep the damaged Tom from unraveling the grander scheme. The result: the requisite game of cat and mouse, which almost doubles as the James Bond script Mel Gibson was never offered.
It’s good to find a movie that has carnage and mayhem that doesn’t seem to be implemented with an iron CGI fist. Edge of Darkness can be exiting at times because you never know when chaos will ensue, and the neorealism nature of it can be brutality off-putting to some individuals. When it comes to gun violence or vehicular homicide, director Martin Campbell takes his Bond experience and ramps it into the valley of the R.
The strangest thing about the roles in the film is that we are supposed to believe that Tom Craven is a veteran detective. I don’t know how he could have solved anything to earn his tenure when on this case we see him stumble into clues. Sherlock Holmes he is not. The most obvious clue is under his nose for so long that he’s either lost focus or Campbell wants the audience to do the same.
To its credit, Edge of Darkness does mix together some hit moments. What felt like a laughable ode to Star Wars gains a much-needed explanation later in the film. Ray Winstone is the scene-stealer, though there were plenty of times where his script must had told him to speak inaudibly. Every instance involving a moving car is golden.
Unfortunately, thrillers need twists and Edge of Darkness offers no surprises. We know early on that Tom Craven (Mel Gibson) is going to lose his daughter. The only way that would come as a surprise to you is if you avoided every faucet of promotion. Suppose you aren’t privy to the trailer or TV spots, you’d still have a clear idea of the film’s path because every plot point is obvious. The story has been around far too long and it gets retold each year. Edge of Darkness is mostly enjoyable because it works the angle of tried and tested film; it has around 30 years of R&D going for it. What a pity that new ideas can go through the pipeline so seldom these days. **½
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