Film Review: Edge of Darkness (Spoilers)
A noir thriller will never operate at the same pace as a standard actioner, but there’s still no excuse for the often meandering pace of director Martin Campbell’s remake of his own 1980′s BBC TV serial. I still haven’t seen the original, but despite some good performances (particularly by Gibson) this version doesn’t work anywhere near as well as the highly acclaimed original is reported to, and oddly it’s largely because of Campbell himself. Gibson returns to the big screen as policeman Tommy Craven, whose daughter (Bojana Novakovic) is shot down in front of him. The police and media believe he was the target, but Craven doesn’t, and is swiftly drawn into a conspiracy within the American defence industry. Will he meet his daughter’s fate or will hitman-cum-mysterious-ally Ray Winstone help him to reveal Craven’s boss’ (Danny Huston) activities to the world?
Campbell tries almost too hard to rise above a script (by William Monahan and Andrew Bovell) which is mystifyingly pedestrian, given the source material. Gibson does his best, but his role is under-written, and he often has to labour through overly talky sequences which have no dramatic energy whatsoever, other than through his still potent charisma. Even more mystifyingly are the direction and editing, which on more than one occasion are little more than amateurish. It feels like there are different elements constantly pushing against each other, and it makes a worthy production often uncomfortable and reduces its impact. Gibson though has no problem emoting as the policeman haunted by his dead daughter, already looking in real life far older than his years. But although you feel anything can happen around him (the manic Lethal Weapon energy is far from gone), there’s no dramatic tension to the story he’s acting in. It’s a missed opportunity by a director with such energy-bursting triumphs as ‘Goldeneye’ and ‘Casino Royale’.
The conspiracy is never adequately fleshed out, although its real-world murkiness is a nice touch. The links between Blackwater, the Bush Administration, the CIA and other organisations have long been known but have been very difficult (if not impossible) to prove, and ‘Edge of Darkness’ is fully aware of that, in ways ‘State of Play’ was not. If its noir elements had been put together a bit more competently (and the sickly ending avoided completely), and a little more political conviction been shown, this might have been a truly exciting return for the much missed Mel Gibson the actor. As it is it’s a mildly enjoyable diversion, which promises more than it delivers.
6/10
