Gibson's Edge of Darkness disappoints
Philip Sledge
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Five years since his last starring role, Gibson has returned to the silver screen and returned to his roots in action movies.
In Edge of Darkness, Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a detective on the Boston police force whose daughter is shot and killed on his porch, leaving Craven with no choice but to solve the heinous crime.
Now this is nothing we haven't seen before, but what did you expect? Mel Gibson has managed to play the same role in the same movie for the past quarter century.
The acting was horrid, the dialogue was laughable, and the pace was something similar to me running a marathon. There was no set speed but more of slow moments with sporadic bursts of energy. Start off slow, then fast, then slower, then fast, then even slower and then finally speeding up one last time before falling short with a mile to go.
Now, I'm not saying Edge of Darkness is a bad movie. Was it great? No. But this is what we love about action movies. We love the bad acting, the catchy one-liners and most of all, the ridiculous action sequences. And there is absurd action in this movie. People getting blown away with shotguns, high speed car chases, random explosions, and most familiar of all, a car randomly flips over when its front tires are shot out. Classic.
However, the most explosive force on the screen is Darius Jedburgh, a mysterious CIA officer played by Ray Winstone (The Departed). Winstone possesses what all the other actors lack--skill.
Jedburgh sneaks in and out of multiple scenes throughout the film, much like a ghost offering tidbits of advice before disappearing. You never know what side he lies on nor do you know his intentions.
Edge of Darkness returns the audience to a simpler time; a time where the acting was dull, the plots were predictable, and the action was absurdly awesome. Will the rest of Hollywood follow suit? We can only hope so.
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