Edge of Darkness - That's Confidential  
| I'm sorry, I can't really talk about this movie; it's confidential. You see, there is all this corporate and political bullshit behind this movie that if I say anything, I may be offed. I just can't risk that. I won't divulge the inner secrets and twists and turns and all that good stuff, I will leave that up to your own discretion.
Edge of Darkness marks the return of Mel Gibson. Having been absent from acting for 8 years, he has finally returned. The film, much like State of Play is based on a hugely successful British series from 1985, which oddly enough was directed by Martin Campbell (who also directed this version). With a screenplay by The Deaprted scribe William Monahan, they have once again adapted a much longer version into something much shorter. However, I believe that Edge of Darkness isn't as good as State of Play.
The basic story here is about Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) and how he investigates his daughters murder. Think Taken mixed with State of Play, only with less action then Taken. While the movie does a lot right (action, basic set up of plot), it also does a hell of a lot wrong (pacing, ridiculousness). The film lacks the same boastfulness that Martin Campbell brought to Casino Royale. It was lacking something, and I've yet to figure it out.
First and foremost, don't go into Edge of Darkness expecting a heavy action movie. It's maybe 20% action, and the rest is corporate/government cover up (oh, I better stop talking about that... I think they are watching me). Thomas Craven spends a lot of time investigating and that creates some of the problem. The pacing is off. The movie picks up, then almost completely dies off... you lose interest. Then you are suddenly jolted by an expected (yet unexpected) bit of action. The action as fantastic when it was actually happening. Mel kicks some major ass. It was nice to see him like that again. There is a lot of violence in this movie, and graphic at that. The part where the one girl is hit by a car is one of the best of the kind I've seen (even though it doesn't really make sense how it happened...but that is besides the point).
I'm just getting sick of corporate and government cover up movies. They offer nothing new so why should I pay any attention to them. Speaking of this "it's confidential" crap, if I hear that one more I'm going to shoot someone. I swear, I must have that saying or some variation of it at least 20 times in this movie. It's just a cowards way to get out of things. I really started disliking the movie at a certain point as it became overly absurd. I was sticking with it through most of the bullshit, but I had to draw a line somewhere.
Edge of Darkness isn't a bad film, its just not a great one either. It's still worth seeing if only for Mel's ass-kicking return.
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