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EDGE OF DARKNESS
(2010)
DIRECTOR:
Martin Campbell.
STARRING:
Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, the slimey Danny Huston.
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The joy of having a child is something I cannot relate to. I can only imagine the commitment, passion, care and total selflessness it takes to PROPERLY
raise a human being I have helped create. It's not for everyone and current statistics show that the people who shouldn't be having children... ARE having
them. But that's a topic for a rant so we won't dwell on that. I couldn't possibly fathom the feeling of loss a parent goes through when this human being
that have spent years molding, educating, observing and caring for, passes away before the parents time. It must be a soul gutting, nerve shattering experience
beyond the comprehension of anyone who has not experienced this exact situation. This is what holds the dark thriller, Edge of Darkness, above the current thriller offerings.
It's a gritty tale of revenge, pain and suffering. Yet it doesn't lose sight of it's emotional foundation, the love of a parent for their child.
Mel Gibson returns to our screens for the first time in a long time. I have to say, I missed this fucking guy standing in front, as opposed to behind, the camera.
I love Braveheart. Passion of the Christ is pretty good. I have yet to see Apocalypto - doesn't do much for me from what I've seen. Even though Gibson's career has
obviously excelled since he stepped behind the camera, to me nothing beats his acting peak in films like Lethal Weapon, Mad Max and Payback... oh wait, not Payback - I'm
just drunk. It's good to see Gibson playing crazy on screen again, Riggs style, as opposed to crazy in real life. I'm over what these celebrities do in their personal
lives, because I aint no fucking role model for stability - I'll tell you that right now. Old Mel has the eyes of a crazy man and he knows how to use it in his films.
Clutching his daughter as her life fades from a fatal buckshot wound is believeable in every sense of the word. The immediate pain, trauma and disbelief at the
exhaustion of his child's life is intense.
Naturally, a good actor also needs a good director. Without this vital formula, shit can go wrong quickly, eg. Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas in comparison
to Nicolas Cage in The Wickerman. You wouldn't believe it's the same actor, so to me, he's a good actor only under strict, precise direction. This film is directed
by Martin Campbell who has quite the odd career. He has directed episodes of fucking MINDER, yet he's also helmed James Bond classics GoldenEye and Casion Royale. Both
reinventions and defining films of their genre. Then you throw in cinematic tripe like Vertical Limit and the guy's career becomes a fucking enigma. But fret not, with
Edge - he has truly shown his worth. The fight scenes are filmed with a sense of realistic brutality, even having Gibson show his age via tired fighting moves. The car chases
are believable and not over the top, because we're here to believe. The whole fucking film has been pulled off to create a realistic portrayal to a dark situation in
a realistic life.
Edge of Darkness is about Boston Police homicide detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson). He's become a reasonably lonely man since the death of his wife and his
24 year old daughter living in another city. Fortunately his daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), is coming home to visit for a while. The underlying emotional daddy/daughter
relationship is subtly projected within the first few scenes of the film, without being shoved in our faces. It's not like "OH MY FUCKING GOD! HE LOVES HER SOOOO MUCH!
SHE LOOKS UP TO HIM LIKE ZOMG HEAPS!" If anything it's the opposite. They have little moments of casual bickering and there's tension or nerves running through the
air. But deep down there's an understanding that the relationship these two share is intense.
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Unfortunately, Emma seems ill. She shrugs it off as tired and exhausted, but Tom knows something is up... and he's going to find out what's wrong even if he has to beat
the fuck out of her. Ho ho! But no, really, he is satisfied at her shrugging it off, as long as she's okay. Unfortunately number 2, she's not okay. She begins profusely
vomiting and suddenly Tom kicks into action. He grabs his keys and they fly out the door for the hospital. As Tom looks the door and Emma stands there being sulky, clutching at her
stomach (suck it up you BITCH), a man runs by. He hollers out the family name, "CRAVEN!" and blasts his daughter and the horse she rode in on back to hell - WHERE SHE CAME FROM!
A touching moments ensues where Tom clutches his daughter like he would his own life. Helpless to stop the very life force draining from her body. This is where Mel's
crazy eyes come in to play. Actually, Mel's crazy eyes do overtime in this movie. Mind fucking you, that's not a bad thing.
It is assumed by all that the man was actually trying to do a hit on Tom and all of his police buddies go into overdrive, trying to find the killer. They throw words
around like "We're gonna get the killer, Tom. You're one of us, it's not just some civilian." Don't quote those exact words but what the FUCK!? Nah, it's not just some
non-cop piece of shit that his daughter killed, it's YOU, Tom, YOU! A COP!
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^^ She SHOULDN'T have called him a crazy eyes Jew loving bastard!
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Naturally, even when it's apparently so "personal", the police are still pretty ineffective. Tom goes about his business without taking time off away from the job. He
even manages to score the case of his daughter's death. Pretty good job if you ask me considering he's clearly been driven to the point of... oh... you know... PURE
FUCKING HOMICIDAL MADNESS! Nah, just give the guy a gun and a badge. Meh... at least it's reminiscent of those beautiful film days of the 80s actioner ;)
Slowly it is discovered that Emma was involved in alot more than she was letting her daddy know. She was involved in an activist group fighting against the company
she worked for. They dealt in nuclear power (weapons) and during an activist mission Emma and several others were exposed to radioactivity. This would explain her profuse
vomiting and sudden ability to fly. Ho ho! No, I'm kidding. She didn't fly at all.
Tom is randomly visited by a brutish English fellow, Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), working high up, yet covertly, in the government. It is assumed he is some type of "silencer"
or hitman. But him and Tom actually end up bonding quite a bit, leading to some of the best dialogue to ever grace such a film. He fills Tom in on the situation, with subtle
suggestions and comments, assisting him in the case.
As Tom sinks further into what has become a personal investigation, his madness rises, cover ups are uncovered and people in high, respected places starts seeming responsible
for many bad things. In a final bid at justice and vengeance, Tom picks up his badge and his gun, heading out into the darkness that is his thirst for revenge, to make
those responsible, pay with their lives.
This movie is not only beautifully filmed, brilliantly directed and superbly scored, but the casting is nothing short of spot on. Mel's performance is back in form and you
wouldn't believe the guy was on the returning end of a 5 year abscence in any form of acting. Ray Winstone is brilliant as the rough as guts English secret agent who has a fondness
for the occasional drink. The smarmy
performance by Damian Young as Senator Jim Pine is too slimey for words. Danny Huston is awkwardly creepy as Emma's boss, Jack Bennett. But I'm starting to believe Danny Huston is
just an actually creepy guy in real life. I'm kinda leaning towards his mother fucking satan at some point in her younger years. All elements of this film come together to make a
sparsely flawed thriller and I guess action-ISH film.
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The down sides? There's always at least one, yeah? The only downside I could put to this film is it's balance of reality. Sometimes it excels so much at being realistic, yet
then completely contradicts that effort by having Emma go flying backwards after being hit with buckshot. Yes, a shotgun is a powerful weapon, but, as the theory goes -
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is indeed a fact. It is ALSO a fact that the receiver of any gun shot can only be forced in the
direction of the shot as much as the shooter is forced in the direction of the recoil of the shot. Several other small situations occur like this which remind you that here
I am in silly movie land. Which is unfortunate, because so much of the time I literally felt like a fly on the wall, observing a real man, in his real life, experiencing real pain,
seeking real vengeance.
A second very minor down side is the Mel's accent. It's obviously meant to be the odd accent a Boston local would have. But via his translation, it comes out even more bizarre
than the normal accent would sound. It's not to say it sounds shit, it just sounds weird. Maybe it's just such a different thing for Crazy Mel to be doing, that I couldn't quite
grasp it? Meh. Not a big deal.
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I DO NOT HAVE FUCKING CRAZY EEEYYYES! ^^
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But this is simply a very minor gripe when you balance it out with other touching scenes. For instance, amongst muchos violence and dark themes, we are suddenly treated to a
delightful scene between Tom and the memory of his daughter. They play out his memories of her words almost like a ghost. It could be so fucking corny and lame, but once again
it is treated with subtly and with a sense of realism. It is treated so well to the point where what could've been a stupid ghost scene is now just a touching moment of an old
man remembering the last member of
his immediate family, his little girl, missing her and wishing she was still alive. In this particular scene he is shaving and he remembers a light hearteded moment where he teaches his very
young daughter how to shave. He becomes lost in the memory and it becomes his reality. He's smiling for the first time in a long time and then suddenly the twinkling music
echoes out and it all disappears. Returning Tom to his drab, dead silent and painful reality. One of the final moments in the film play out to similar effect, but I wouldn't dare
do it an injustice by giving it away.
I will say, even you boys who are so tough you walk away from explosions instead of staring at the spectacle before you, bring your fucking
tissues. You may just have a tear or two jerked by this darkly intense yet touching film. Edge of Darkness is a brutal thriller on the outside but at it's core it is simply a
film about a father and the love he has for his daughter, reminding us all to keep our loved ones close and to never waste a moment with them.
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Practising Mel Gibson crazy eyes, I give this fantastic film: |
4.5 OUT OF 5 JAGER-BABIES. |
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