Flicks-a-saurus Rex

Edge of Darkness

Director – Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, The Mask of Zorro, Golden Eye)

Starring – Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, and Bojana Novakovic

MPAA - Rated R for strong bloody violence and language

The director of the gritty, fast paced, action blockbuster, Casino Royale, brings us a tale of revenge, packed with brutal violence, and top notch suspense; Edge of Darkness. Martin Campbell has directed a very good film, filled with suspense, action, and a little bit of hope. This is one of the better action/thrillers to have hit theaters in a while.

Mel Gibson managed to do what Harrison Ford failed to do with Firewall, make a comeback and still entertain the audience. I use this comparison because both Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson were mega stars of the 80s. They continued in stardom through the early 90s but in the last decade there has been very little from either actor. Gibson of course made The Passion and Apocalyptic, but hasn’t starred in anything for a while. Then Ford tries a little bit of a comeback with the marginally entertaining thriller, Firewall. It was an okay film, but felt very 1989 and was a critical disaster. Gibson’s comeback film is very modern and makes full use of today’s recourses to stand as a tense thriller that is very entertaining, and while not a masterpiece in the industry it holds its own over many of its action/thriller counterparts.



Mel Gibson stars as the father of a murdered daughter. She is shot on his front porch as their last name “Craven” is shouted across the street and a shotgun toting bad guy blow the young woman through the door and across the hall. The cops assume Gibson was the target, but he takes a different approach assuming she was the target. His revenge is aided by the clever government fixer Ray Winstone, whose thick British accent and cold mannerisms were enough to chill my blood.



This is a fairly formulaic revenge thriller, and it is packed with gory violence. But it was well put together. It had a plot with good twists that really kept me on the edge of my seat. It was also heart rending to see Gibson’s flash back with his little girl. There is one really cute scene where he is shaving and his daughter comes into the room and he puts some gel on her face and she shaves with his comb while he talks with her and continues his own shaving. Then we blink and she is gone and he is left alone in the empty house.



I would give Edge of Darkness a healthy 7.6 out of 10. While we have seen many films with similar plots, similar twists, and some with even better action than this, Edge of Darkness is still a tense thriller that will keep its viewers biting their nails. This is a lot better than most films of a similar genre, one that is sure to thrill.

Sex/Nudity – 2 out of 10 - one sexual reference and a reference to a woman’s relationship with her boyfriend, that she might be pregnant. A woman wears a cleavage revealing shirt.

Violence/Gore – 8 out of 10 – There are a lot of bloody gun fights and there are a lot of bloody dead bodies. One man is seen with most of his head shot off, blood and brain matter on a couch. A woman is hit by a car and we see her broken body fly quite a few feet. A woman is shot by a double barreled shot gun and we see her fly through a door backwards. It is a violent film but not gory like dead zombies or torture or anything like that.

Profanity – 8 out of 10 – 50 “F” words, and a small smattering of other profanities, name calling, and a few religious exclamations.