26
Apr
Amazon.com
The good news is that Edge of Darkness (no relation to the fine 1943 war picture of that name) brings back Mel Gibson in front of the camera for the first time in nearly a decade. Although he’s grown creased and leathery and his thatch has thinned, the movie star who was Mad Max still has the charisma and gravitas to center a dodgy suspense tale and propel it to the finish line. Gibson plays veteran Boston police detective Tom Craven, who welcomes home daughter Emma (Bojana … More >>
“Edge Of Darkness” is excellent! This is how the story goes: Thomas Craven is a veteran homicide detective for the Boston Police Department and a single father. When his only child, 24-year-old Emma, is murdered on the steps of his home, everyone assumes that he was the target. But he soon suspects otherwise, and embarks on a mission to find out about his daughter’s secret life and her killing. His investigation leads him into a dangerous looking-glass world of corporate cover-ups, government collusion and murder — and to shadowy government operative Darius Jedburgh who has been sent in to clean up the evidence. Craven’s solitary search for answers about his daughter’s death transforms into an odyssey of emotional discovery and redemption.
The cast led by Mel Gibson (in an excellent performance as Thomas Craven) is excellent! The directing by Martin Campbell (who also directed the original British mini-series of “Edge Of Darkness” (1985), he also directed “Casino Royale” (2006), “GoldenEye” (1995), “The Mask Of Zorro” (1998), “The Legend Of Zorro” (2005), “Vertical Limit” (2000) & the upcoming “Green Lantern” (2011) is excellent! The screenplay (based on Troy Kennedy Martin’s story and teleplay) by William Monahan (who also did the screenplay to “The Departed” (2006, for which he won an Oscar), “Kingdom Of Heaven” (2005), “Body Of Lies” (2008) & the upcoming “Tripoli” (2011, also produced) & Andrew Bovell (who also did the screenplay to “Lantana” (2001) is excellent!
The music by Howard Shore (who also did the music to “The Lord Of The Rings” trilogy (2001, 2002, & 2003), for which he won 3 Oscars, “The Departed”, “Eastern Promises” (2007), “A History Of Violence” (2005), both which were directed by David Cronenberg & the upcoming “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” (2010) is excellent! The cinematography by Phil Meheux (who also did the cinematography to “Casino Royale”, “GoldenEye”, “The Mask Of Zorro” & “The Legend Of Zorro” is excellent! The film editing by Stuart Baird (who also did the film editing to “Lethal Weapon 1 & 2″ (1987 & 1989), “Maverick” (1994), all 3 which were directed by Richard Donner and starred Gibson, “The Legend Of Zorro”, “Casino Royale” & the upcoming “Salt” (2010) is excellent! The casting by Pam Dixon (who also did the casting to “The Mask Of Zorro”, “The Legend Of Zorro”, “Vertical Limit” & the upcoming “Green Lantern”) is excellent! The production design by Tom Sanders (who also did the production design to “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992), “Maverick”, “Braveheart” (1995, which was directed, produced and also starred Gibson), “Saving Private Ryan” (1998), “We Were Soldiers” (2002, also starred Gibson), “Apocalypto” (2006, also produced, co-written and directed by Gibson) is excellent! The art direction by Greg Berry (supervising art director) (who also did the art direction to “3:10 To Yuma” (2007) & the upcoming “Knight & Day” (2010), both which were directed by James Mangold), Mark Satterlee & Suzan Wexler (who also did the art direction to “Spider-Man 3″ (2007) & “Iron Man 1 & 2″ (2008 & 2010) is excellent! The set decoration by Jay Hart (who also did the set decoration to “3:10 To Yuma” & the upcoming “Knight & Day”) & Christopher Milot (who also did the set decoration to the upcoming “Knight & Day” & “Grown-Ups” (2010) is excellent! The costume design by Lindy Hemming (who also did the costume design to “GoldenEye”, “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), “The World Is Not Enough” (1999), “Die Another Day” (2002), “Casino Royale”, “Batman Begins” (2005), “The Dark Knight” (2008) & the upcoming “Clash Of The Titans” (2010) is excellent!
This is an excellent remake that is better than most remakes are. Martin Campbell wisely returns to remake his 1985 mini-series “Edge Of Darkness”, with excellent results. Mel Gibson is in another excellent performance.
Rating: 5 / 5
What a terrible movie. Totally ruined the original BBC TV series. What was this? I can’t believe people actually liked this piece of garbage. The acting is terrible, the plot is just awfully bad and apparently re-written in a very confusing way. I advise you to stick with the original TV show. This movie is worth no stars, let alone one star. I just don’t know why the director of the movie (Campbell) wanted to re-do his original great work into a movie. I am stunned and disappointed. 0/5
Rating: 1 / 5
I won’t bore you with a long diatribe that dissects this silly flick into its substanceless individual parts. Gibson seems to be pissed off he accepted the role, the “Boston” accent is annoying, the movie is clearly a half hour too long and, typical of movies like this, the characters fearing for their lives all do predictably stupid things. Two and a half stars for the kernel of an idea for a good movie and a few good action sequences. Unfortunately this one is pretty much a paint by the numbers affair with a lot of long boring sceens of faux acting used as filler for a weak story. Save your money and rent if you must.
Rating: 2 / 5
This movie was not at all what I expected. It has a promising storyline, but I didn’t like the way that it was carried out. I was hoping it would be like either ‘The Punisher’ or ‘Max Payne’ but it was far from it. In fact, it was quite boring. There are hardly any action scenes, and I remember thinking to myself ‘when is something interesting gonna happen?’ Mel Gibson stars as Thomas Craven, a cop with nothing to lose when his daughter, Emma is murdered right in front of him. He goes on a personal vendetta to find out who killed her, and why. I also did not care for the ending. I would not recommend EDGE OF DARKNESS!!!
Rating: 2 / 5
Edge of darkness… AKA where Mel Gibson is right now. In short: bad script, doctrinaire lines, idiot mystery spy supporting role (De Niro walked away from that role while on set…no wonder…with lines like those) and depressing supporting cast. Director relies on shock factor every ten minutes to wake you up. A great concept wasted. Gibson’s statement to Hollywood: ‘You killed me, but I don’t care coz I believe.’ That insight the only redeeming factor. And his acting.
Rating: 2 / 5