David O'ConnellEdge of Darkness
February 3rd 2010 03:14
Director Martin Campbell must have been persuaded to tackle an abridged, updated version of his 1985 BBC mini-series on the basis of having a great feel for the material. From an audience perspective, hopes have been high that a return to the acting fold for Mel Gibson would re-ignite his career and stir fond recollections of his prime, though well aware that this project was being fed through the wringer of the almighty Hollywood machine.
Unfortunately, this tale of a man’s revenge becomes ensnared in the convoluted machinations of a deep and increasingly implausible conspiracy theory. The film begins promisingly and with real intensity too. Boston detective Thomas Craven (Gibson) has a welcome visit from seldom seen daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic), but as they settle down to dinner on a miserable, rainy night, Craven senses his daughter unease. A father and cop’s instinct is telling him Emma is concealing something, and when she begins to vomit blood the mood turns to stark terror. In one of the film’s most effective scenes, a gunman lets loose on their doorstep as they depart for the hospital, cutting down Emma but leaving Craven – presumably the intended target – unharmed.
Craven, in his zombified state of bereavement, pushes on, determined to uncover the killer's identity. He looks into both his and Emma's recent past, hoping to put the pieces of a cohesive explanation together. Instead he finds scattered odds and ends that make little sense. Slowly a bigger picture emerges, her employer Northmoor looming large and casting aspersions on Emma’s work as a trainee nuclear engineer. Could it be that she was the intended target all along?
Campbell ably maintains the thrust of William Monahan and Australian Andrew Bovell’s taut screenplay in the early going; a pervasive, genuinely sinister element creeps into the design of Emma’s fate as her story unfolds in reverse. However, isolated moments of incredulity begin to take increasingly larger bites out of Craven’s fervent delving. The film is pushed to the edge of a precipice by the time Craven’s first meeting with Northmoor CEO Jack Bennett (Danny Huston) arrives, and begins inching downhill thereafter.
Huston is an actor I generally like but here he’s given a thankless task as a heinous, one-dimensional bad guy whose conscience must have left his body, like an aura, at birth. At the end of their exchange, the camera hones in on the Bennett's face as he brazenly asks of the bereaved father, “How does it feel?” It’s a sinister but vaguely ludicrous moment and proves to be merely a set-up for a later showdown between the two when Craven, pressing a gun to Bennett’s face, mockingly regurgitates the same question.
Ray Winstone’s character, the eccentrically named Jedburgh, turns up at intervals with ominous messages for both sides. He’s one of those ethereal shadow-men who couldn’t really exist in the world as he does here, slipping beyond everyone’s notice and drawing attention to his own ambiguousness as a means of playing both ends of the deck. With his allegiances shadowed in doubt, he’s impossible to get a handle on but Winstone’s portrayal, a mix of suave omniscience and rough-around-the-edges cynicism, has a certain captivating allure.
The film is surprisingly over-plotted for such mainstream fare, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does tend to become mired in circular motions without any headway being made. Essentially it boils down to conspiracy theories that poke at the secret misdeeds of powerful men; it's a familiar, jaded restatement of ideas in a world where those who hamper the avariciousness of assassins in suits become expendable waste products.
Edge of Darkness is a solid enough thriller, relying on a handful of heart-in-mouth shock moments which are, admittedly, very effective. You have to wonder how compromised Campbell’s vision for this second run-through of the same story has been, but one assumes he went in with eyes wide open when asked for his signature on the dotted line.
The absurd leanings of the third act certainly undermine its credibility but there’s still enough meat on these bones for me to grant it a pass mark - by a hair's breadth. Gibson is suitably grim and focused in conveying the force of Craven's quest. In truth, this material is right up his alley, and he suits up as if the armour had never been discarded seven years ago for the sake of crucifying Jesus to a cross and beheading Mayans.
Trailer can be viewed here.
Unfortunately, this tale of a man’s revenge becomes ensnared in the convoluted machinations of a deep and increasingly implausible conspiracy theory. The film begins promisingly and with real intensity too. Boston detective Thomas Craven (Gibson) has a welcome visit from seldom seen daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic), but as they settle down to dinner on a miserable, rainy night, Craven senses his daughter unease. A father and cop’s instinct is telling him Emma is concealing something, and when she begins to vomit blood the mood turns to stark terror. In one of the film’s most effective scenes, a gunman lets loose on their doorstep as they depart for the hospital, cutting down Emma but leaving Craven – presumably the intended target – unharmed.
Craven, in his zombified state of bereavement, pushes on, determined to uncover the killer's identity. He looks into both his and Emma's recent past, hoping to put the pieces of a cohesive explanation together. Instead he finds scattered odds and ends that make little sense. Slowly a bigger picture emerges, her employer Northmoor looming large and casting aspersions on Emma’s work as a trainee nuclear engineer. Could it be that she was the intended target all along?
Campbell ably maintains the thrust of William Monahan and Australian Andrew Bovell’s taut screenplay in the early going; a pervasive, genuinely sinister element creeps into the design of Emma’s fate as her story unfolds in reverse. However, isolated moments of incredulity begin to take increasingly larger bites out of Craven’s fervent delving. The film is pushed to the edge of a precipice by the time Craven’s first meeting with Northmoor CEO Jack Bennett (Danny Huston) arrives, and begins inching downhill thereafter.
Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson): man on a mission
Huston is an actor I generally like but here he’s given a thankless task as a heinous, one-dimensional bad guy whose conscience must have left his body, like an aura, at birth. At the end of their exchange, the camera hones in on the Bennett's face as he brazenly asks of the bereaved father, “How does it feel?” It’s a sinister but vaguely ludicrous moment and proves to be merely a set-up for a later showdown between the two when Craven, pressing a gun to Bennett’s face, mockingly regurgitates the same question.
Ray Winstone’s character, the eccentrically named Jedburgh, turns up at intervals with ominous messages for both sides. He’s one of those ethereal shadow-men who couldn’t really exist in the world as he does here, slipping beyond everyone’s notice and drawing attention to his own ambiguousness as a means of playing both ends of the deck. With his allegiances shadowed in doubt, he’s impossible to get a handle on but Winstone’s portrayal, a mix of suave omniscience and rough-around-the-edges cynicism, has a certain captivating allure.
Craven meets the mysterious Jedburgh (Ray Winstone)
The film is surprisingly over-plotted for such mainstream fare, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does tend to become mired in circular motions without any headway being made. Essentially it boils down to conspiracy theories that poke at the secret misdeeds of powerful men; it's a familiar, jaded restatement of ideas in a world where those who hamper the avariciousness of assassins in suits become expendable waste products.
Edge of Darkness is a solid enough thriller, relying on a handful of heart-in-mouth shock moments which are, admittedly, very effective. You have to wonder how compromised Campbell’s vision for this second run-through of the same story has been, but one assumes he went in with eyes wide open when asked for his signature on the dotted line.
The absurd leanings of the third act certainly undermine its credibility but there’s still enough meat on these bones for me to grant it a pass mark - by a hair's breadth. Gibson is suitably grim and focused in conveying the force of Craven's quest. In truth, this material is right up his alley, and he suits up as if the armour had never been discarded seven years ago for the sake of crucifying Jesus to a cross and beheading Mayans.
Trailer can be viewed here.
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Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
This is decent and it is good to see Mel back on screen but to be honest nobody's going to remember anything about it two months from now.