The basic plot outline of Edge of Darkness revolves around Craven (Mel Gibson) a Boston police officer investigating the murder of his daughter. His investigation technique relies on kicking ass and asking questions later. This is kind of a tired genre if you ask me. His daughter, Emma Craven, has just arrived home to visit her father when she is gunned down with her father at her side. Craven witnesses his daughter die in his arms. The course for revenge is inevitably set. Initially, it is thought that Craven was the intended target. However, early in his investigation, Craven learns it was his daughter that was targeted because she assisted in the brake in of an evil, weapons manufacturing company called Northmoor. Ooh, spooky name. Any company called Northmoor has got to be evil, right? The group she assisted was planning on exposing the super-evil Northmoor to the public.
The Good: Mel Gibson's performance was very good, he is a likable character and you route for him all the way. Ray Winstone plays Jedburgh, a sort-of-hit-man style character who organizations hire to clean up a mess by any means necessary. Winstone gives a great performance. His characters interaction with Craven provides much of the films intrigue. Jedburgh represents the films Wildcard for an otherwise predictable film. You never know which side he is really on and you get the sense his actions will play a pivotal role. The Cinematography was great and the film had great energy and tempo for a film that was not rich with action. Moviegoers expecting a lot of action should be forewarned.
The Bad: The bad parts of the film all revolve around serious story issues. Northmoor, a secretive weapons manufacture, has this massive, eye-popping, state of the art facility on the banks of a river. Come on get real! This is a company that does not want any attention? Right away I am not taking this film seriously. Everyone helping Craven in the investigation dies. Northmoor is successful at killing everyone except the person that can cause the most threat to the organization; a well respected police officer whose daughter you have just murdered. Of course without Craven you have no movie, but you have to ask yourself why Northmoor didn't arrange to have Craven killed when his daughter was shot. They certainly have no problem getting their hands dirty. And I do not fully understand why they had to shot Emma Craven in the first place. She had already been poisoned with a lethal dose of radiated milk; she was going to die anyway. There are several scenes that serve no purpose, only to add action sequences. There is a car chase scene where Craven is chasing Jack Bennett (Danny Huston), the CEO of Northmoor in his Bentley down a busy highway. He avoids capture from Bennett's thugs/bodyguards and eventually forces his way into the backseat of the car with Bennett. He points a gun at Bennett's head and says "How does it feel?" The scene ends; with Bennett still alive. With all that trouble to catch him, he lets him go? Danny Huston seems to be stuck in the role of the bad guy in his recent roles(Wolverine, 30 Days of Night, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People). I have to say he is very good at getting an audience to hate his guts.
The film strives to not be taken seriously. It's too formulistic and is really quite silly when you think too much. It is two [2] hours of mild entertainment, some decent action scenes, some good performances, but nothing really more. Not a very ambitious release. 5/10
The Good: Mel Gibson's performance was very good, he is a likable character and you route for him all the way. Ray Winstone plays Jedburgh, a sort-of-hit-man style character who organizations hire to clean up a mess by any means necessary. Winstone gives a great performance. His characters interaction with Craven provides much of the films intrigue. Jedburgh represents the films Wildcard for an otherwise predictable film. You never know which side he is really on and you get the sense his actions will play a pivotal role. The Cinematography was great and the film had great energy and tempo for a film that was not rich with action. Moviegoers expecting a lot of action should be forewarned.
The Bad: The bad parts of the film all revolve around serious story issues. Northmoor, a secretive weapons manufacture, has this massive, eye-popping, state of the art facility on the banks of a river. Come on get real! This is a company that does not want any attention? Right away I am not taking this film seriously. Everyone helping Craven in the investigation dies. Northmoor is successful at killing everyone except the person that can cause the most threat to the organization; a well respected police officer whose daughter you have just murdered. Of course without Craven you have no movie, but you have to ask yourself why Northmoor didn't arrange to have Craven killed when his daughter was shot. They certainly have no problem getting their hands dirty. And I do not fully understand why they had to shot Emma Craven in the first place. She had already been poisoned with a lethal dose of radiated milk; she was going to die anyway. There are several scenes that serve no purpose, only to add action sequences. There is a car chase scene where Craven is chasing Jack Bennett (Danny Huston), the CEO of Northmoor in his Bentley down a busy highway. He avoids capture from Bennett's thugs/bodyguards and eventually forces his way into the backseat of the car with Bennett. He points a gun at Bennett's head and says "How does it feel?" The scene ends; with Bennett still alive. With all that trouble to catch him, he lets him go? Danny Huston seems to be stuck in the role of the bad guy in his recent roles(Wolverine, 30 Days of Night, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People). I have to say he is very good at getting an audience to hate his guts.
The film strives to not be taken seriously. It's too formulistic and is really quite silly when you think too much. It is two [2] hours of mild entertainment, some decent action scenes, some good performances, but nothing really more. Not a very ambitious release. 5/10