Edge of Darkness (2010)

Directed by: Martin Campbell | 108 minutes | drama, thriller | Actors: Mel Gibson, Danny Huston, Ray Winstone, Shawn Roberts, Caterina Scorsone, Peter Hermann, Denis O’Hare, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Bojana Novakovic, Jay O. Sanders, Frank Grillo, Wayne Duvall, Scott Winters, David Aaron Baker, Rick Avery, Tom Kemp, Kevin DeCoste, Frank Ridley, Paul Sparks, Peter Epstein, Elizabeth Dings, Stephanie Atkinson, Jennifer Nichole Porter, Nico Evers-Swindell, Gabrielle Popa, Joe Stapleton, David J. Curtis

After a few years of not acting, Mel Gibson can be seen again in the very successful thriller ‘Edge of Darkness’. The film is a remake of the BBC’s 1985 TV miniseries of the same name. Gibson, whose mental state has been questioned after his adaptation of the Passion of the Christ in ‘The Passion of the Christ’, usually plays characters who are slightly off-putting. show traits. Gibson’s strength as an actor lies in his agile and playful playing and expressive facial expressions. In ‘Edge of Darkness’, however, he plays remarkably restrained and without the typical neurotic crazy faces that we also know from him. The fact that the years are now also starting to give up on the actor, gives an impression of a somewhat difficult-looking Gibson who, however, steadily convinces in his role of single father and policeman Thomas Craven who loses his daughter in an assassination attempt and wants revenge.

So a subtle Gibson and that subtlety is also reflected in the rest of Martin Campbell’s film, which was previously responsible for ‘Casino Royale’, the best Bond film since Roger Moore took over from Sean Connery. Campbell knows how to balance action and drama well and dares to take the time in the editing to tell a good story. In ‘Edge of Darkness’ he lowers the tempo even further to pre-nineties level. So no ultra hip montage with the latest tricks from the video clip circuit to disguise the lack of story and storytelling, but remarkably calm and relatively long scenes in which the characters come to life and, above all, the bond between father and daughter becomes tangible. And that is important because the revenge motive is not used here to quickly start handing out blows for an hour and a half.

By the way, that doesn’t mean that there is no slapping in the film, you can safely leave that to Gibson. There are some really exciting action scenes, such as a game of old-fashioned fighting in a small living room. Considering that the original series ran for six hours, it’s not bad at all how the screenplay has been reduced to about two hours and still has a coherent story. However, Campbell occasionally slips in the final editing. For example, especially in the middle of the film, there are a few scenes that seem to fall from the sky, are stopped quickly or are not completed satisfactorily. For example, there is a meeting between Craven and the leader of an activist club, who technically had to tell a story, but probably took the momentum out of the film and was therefore considerably shortened. Apart from these inaccuracies, ‘Edge of Darkness’ is an atmospheric thriller with an eye for detail and location. Boston and the surrounding area come out beautifully; Craven can be found much in his home and kitchen, the lighting of which becomes increasingly obscure as the film approaches its tragic climax. And note the scene in which, among other things, Craven in a raincoat can be seen in silhouette in front of a window with blinds, a strong example of retro!