Bodies bob to the surface in a moonlit river,
Boston cop Tommy Craven (Mel Gibson) collects his daughter (Bojana
Novakovic) from the airport on what's supposed to be a family visit
only she's clearly got something on her mind and is coughing up blood
besides...
At first Edge of Darkness seems to be your typical
conspiracy thriller, but then Tommy's daughter meets a surprisingly
untimely end, and the two elements that define this film above and
beyond the (skilfully done) conspiracy thriller are put in place.
The
first is that Edge of Darkness is a film where any conversation can end
at any time with one of the parties involved being killed, and the
second is that this is a film where Mel (who hasn't ben the lead in a
film for eight years) is an unstoppable force of vengeance.
Usually
in a conspiracy thriller, the lead is on the back foot at least some of
the time as the vast conspiracy destroys their life. Here Tommy's life
ends when his daughter dies, and what's left is a man with nothing to
lose - and nothing to fear.
Director Michael Campbell (Casino
Royale) adapts his own mid-80s mini-series and sands off some of the
bleaker edges of the original, but for the most part this retains the
grim momentum of the original.
Ray Winstone gives a solid
performances as a bone-weary CIA fixer who lets Tommy's rampage
continue out of professional courtesy, but it's an oddly pointless
role: fun as it is to see him and Mel together as the manliest men
alive, he's not a character the movie really needs to work.
And work it does!
If you like your conspiracies grim and your heroes ruthless, Edge of Darkness does everything you could ask for. DVD Special Features
Quite a bit on offer here. Special Features include Deleted scenes
and several featurettes including "Revisiting the Edge of Darkness
mini-series", "Mel's Back", "Director Profile - Martin Campbell",
"Boston as a character" and "Edge of your seat".
Watch it now before Mel Gibson lets loose some other kind of crazy rant that means he'll have to leave the biz all together!
Conclusion:
Movie 100% Extras: 60%
|
