The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: ‘Edge Of Darkness’ Movie Review

Film — February 5, 2010 at 11:00 — no comments

Clark Kent says: ‘Edge Of Darkness’ is being billed as a Mel Gibson comeback film. If that’s the case then he needs to go back to wherever he was at! See why I’m at my own edge of darkness after the jump.

GOOD: There really isn’t much good about this movie. The basic premise is elementary done wrong. In ‘Edge of Darkness’ Mel Gibson’s daughter (Bojana Novakovic) comes home for some unknown reason and seems to be at a tumultuous point in her life. But the audience never gets to know much about that back story because in less than ten minutes into the flick, our plot has been created, and it’s all downhill from there.

BAD: Fans of Mel Gibson’s other child-harming, revenge-seeking movie — ‘Ransom’ will see that Gibson isn’t really showcasing an new acting range. After our plot is under way, the hero — Thomas Craven — a Boston flatfoot now rogue gumshoe doesn’t seem much affected by the change. Subtle references are sprinkled in for dramatic effect which don’t do much to add meat to an already bare bones script. While those moments are the film’s most powerful examples of Craven’s deeply conflicted agony and raged filled revenge, they don’t add much oomph to the experience. ‘Edge of Darkness’ is wash, rinse, dry, and repeat. Gibson’s Craven interrogates the bad guy, Gibson says something snarky, pulls out gun, and then Gibson shoots.

UGLY: There isn’t much ‘Lethal Weapon’ inspired action and while that’s understandable because our actions stars can’t be action-packed forever, ‘Edge of Darkness’ has acts of greatly exaggerated violence that is about as appealing as watching ice cream melt. With a tone similar to ‘Taken’ starring Liam Neeson, ‘Darkness’ is shrouded in the shadows — an attempt to elicit an emotional response — but only adds to the negative tone that this film emits.

Clark Kent says: In other words… Skip it! By the looks of Mel’s next films (‘Cold Warrior,’ ‘Under And Alone,’ and ‘The Drowner‘ — he’s not really a happy camper. Doesn’t mean we have to suffer for it though. Share your thoughts and check out the ‘Edge of Darkness’ trailer below: