A Review of Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson

I had high expectations of Mel Gibson's remake of the Edge of Darkness, a film about a detective's quest to investigate his daughter's violent murder. The film takes place when Detective Craven (played by Mel Gibson) picks up his daughter Emma Craven (played by the attractive Bojana Novakovic) at the South Station train station. Her subsequent murder by a masked gunman triggers off the remaining plot with political implications.

We note well that Mel Gibson has spent a long time away from the big screen since The Singing Detective. It is interesting that he should choose a remake of a film that has been a big hit more than 25 years ago, and try to translate the message of the film to the modern era. Back then, director Martin Campbell explored a world of complicacy involving the CIA, nuclear devices and government conspiracies. It worked because it fitted with the political environment at the time, and stretched the audience's imagination and fears of nuclear weapons. The old film had a good deal of suspense, and we are attracted to the fate of the protagonist as he delves deeper and deeper into the reasons that his daughter was killed.

If you had seen the previous film, then you would probably give this a pass as this is just an exact remaked with similar plots. It is just a mere exploitation of the American market, and had none of the suspense and intricacy associated with the earlier work. From the start, the plot grinds forward at an extremely slow pace. The fact that they tried to include as much from the old film into the this remake dragged it out and made the plot overcomplex.

As the Detective was followed closely by the team from the Northmoor nuclear facility, led by Danny Huston as the security head. The only redemption was Ray Winstone, who was menacing as the clean up man hired by the team. Gibson looks miserable as ever in his role and the violence is way over the top and did nothing to propel the plot. As he physically subdued all his opponents and reached the end of his own life, we are left wondering what is the moral message of the whole story. Surely he plays the role of a grieving father who has just lost his loved one, but the whole revenge business made this just another average action flick.

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Edge of Darkness Review
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