Movie Review: Edge of Darkness

Edge of Darkness

Rated R for strong bloody violence and language.
Running Time: 1 hour 48 minutes.

Casino Royale’s Martin Campbell is back in familiar territory with this adaptation of his own 1985 BBC miniseries, Edge of Darkness. In this big screen version Mel Gibson is a detective looking into his political-activist daughter’s death and uncovering layers of governmental conspiracies in the process.

This emotionally charged thriller finds its setting at the intersection of politics and big business. After his daughter is murdered, Thomas Craven discovers a looking glass world of corporate cover-ups, government collusion and murder. Along the way, Detective Craven also crosses paths with a shadowy government operative by the name of Darius Jedburgh. He’s been sent in to clean up the evidence.

How A Suspense/Thriller Should Be Done

Mel Gibson may look a little road weary but when it comes to the overall feel of Edge of Darkness, this is a prime example of how a suspense/thriller movie should be done. It takes a lot to put me on the edge of my seat with eyes riveted to the screen.

That’s exactly what Edge of Darkness did for me.

It clocks in at a perfect length of a little under 2 hours. Not too long, not too short. With a running time of 1 hour 48 minutes, the director is forced to keep the story line moving, eliminating the down time that all too often is present in many other movies today. That’s not to say there are no breathing moments in Edge of Darkness. There’s a great balance between action scenes and slower scenes which enable the viewer to breath. But, even when the scenes are slow, there are elements taking part on the fringe of the scene which keeps a strong undercurrent of action present at the same time.

While this movie is obviously not family-friendly since it carries an R rating, that’s not to say the violence and language is overdone.

I like Mel Gibson and was very interested in this movie since it’s his first starring role in 10 years. But, with an MPAA warning of “strong bloody violence and language” I wasn’t sure just how over the top the violence and language would be. All too often movie makers and script writers today feel the need to over-do violence and language. Such is not the case with Edge of Darkness. Yes, at times there’s a lot of blood. At other times, the “f-bomb” is dropped rather excessively. But overall, the blood, violence and language fits the situation. In some cases I’ve seen more blood on TV shows than I saw in Edge of Darkness.

As far as the script goes, there’s enough going on here to hold your attention. Just when you think it’s getting predictable, a twist of action is tossed in. Of course that makes for a great edge of your seat experience where you say “Wow! I didn’t see that coming!” The Edge of Darkness also contains some great “jump moments” too. Yes, there were at least three times where I did “jump”.

All in all, if you’re a Mel Gibson fan, you will not be disappointed with his performance in Edge of Darkness. As already mentioned, he appears a little road worn, but then again, he is in his mid-50’s so he moves a little slower than he used to.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus