Edge Of Darkness

Political thriller starring Mel Gibson Discuss this article

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We may have moved from veiled Cold War to explicit global terror in the 25 years since the excellent, UK-set nuclear conspiracy thriller Edge of Darkness first aired on the BBC, directed by Martin Campbell (2006’s Casino Royale). It’s also been some eight, traumatic post-9/11 years since Mel Gibson’s last thespian outing in M Night Shyamalan’s Signs. But time seems to have stood still in Campbell’s drab remake for the big screen. With its nuclear concerns and old-fashioned heroics, it feels like a period piece.

By condensing the original mini-series into a conventional, two-hour package, the original’s cultural specificity and slow-burn quality has been sacrificed. Moreover, in relocating from northern England to the US’s Eastern Seaboard, they have jettisoned much of the chilling atmospherics. Craven, the widowed police officer whose engineer daughter (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down on a home visit, is now one of Boston PD’s finest; and if it’s true that Gibson, in the role, recalls the earnest intensity and investigative zeal of Bob Peck’s original performance, he also brings a lot of unwanted Lethal Weapon-era manic mannerisms to the part.

It’s basically a ‘little guy against the system’ movie. However, Ray Winstone, as a boozy high-level fixer in pointed contrast to Craven’s ginger-ale-drinking sobriety, does offer good value in what is otherwise a surprisingly low-wattage thriller.

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