Edge of Darkness

A surprisingly bland and uninteresting thriller. Martin Campbell is “only” a professional action-movie craftsman, and the subject matter of Edge of Darkness needed a more distinctive take on the sad, depressing and urgent warning against the circles of powerful people. Moreover, the film barely contains any action and doesn’t offer any kind of breathtaking climax of the detective plot, which is more chaotic than interesting. Danny Huston and Ray Winstone are well cast in their roles, but Winstone’s character is horribly botched up (while it is evident that it was supposed to be the second most important character in the story). Mel Gibson is good but his performance is nowhere near what he did in Payback. The same could be said about the whole movie. (10/02/2010)

Even with his graying head, Gibson is still an instant badass who can break a diamond with a look. However, here the poor guy languishes in a blandly told story that suffers desperately from the writer forgetting to give it any sort of direction and the director forgetting to give it shape. The tragic position of the theme doesn’t work because the filmmakers don't address it (the daughter's voiceover - WTF?!) and the huge conspiracy is laughable in its naivety. The characters (and there are a plethora of them) lack any real personal background (including Gibson), so watching them move through the plot is simply not enjoyable. It’s an incredible dud and (so far) the most blown chance of the year. I am, however, interested in the TV original. (24/02/2010)

Mel Gibson's tough guy image went out of style a long time ago, so we can't expect anything groundbreaking in terms of the script. Once again, there are espionage threads, a complex web of characters, and a tangle of uncertain facts that ex-cop Mel Gibson must put together, which he manages to do quite quickly. Thank God, however, we have excellent and raw action, which Martin Campbell handles brilliantly. The action scenes are not unrealistically inflated, they are powerful, bloody, and merciless. Above all, the car crash scene is awesome. Thanks of those few explosive moments, it is basically average, otherwise, there is nothing to write home about. (15/05/2010)

A bit of an impotent thriller. And not just because radiation can be what causes impotence. Besides bleeding vomiting and other problems. I'm glad Mel Gibson returned to the craft. I highly appreciate him as a director and I am sorry that he currently has nothing planned. His "Apocalypto" and "The Passion of the Christ" are personally perfectly executed films for me. But let's talk about "Edge of Darkness". The beginning is good. The father's beloved daughter returns, who is apparently sick, but before he can take her to the hospital, someone shoots her. Mel doesn't know who, that's what he has to find out. The start is good, the viewer expects some interesting cat and mouse game, twists, but nothing like that happens. Mel stumbles between assholes and faux-badasses and gradually discovers the truth that the United States are actually real bastards and they do whatever they want with nuclear weapons. Another huge revelation of how bad things are in America - from a political perspective and the attempt to gain power. This is something the film has in common with "The Green Zone". Well, let them make movies about it, but it's not that groundbreaking anymore. The worst part, however, is the ending, which tries to be poetic about as much as a tramp who starts reciting passages from "Máj" in a croaky voice by the fire. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/05/kocour-v-botach-jedna-hodne-blba-svatba.html (19/02/2013)

Dead Man Walking. Gibson great, Winstone great, Campbell is still in top form. Although a couple of scenes really made me think WTF (the end), it didn’t bother me so much that I couldn’t enjoy the rest. The action scenes are supreme to the point it’s a shame that there weren’t more of them and the final showdown was such a treat for me to watch - precisely my cup of tea. I even feel like watching the original miniseries too. (21/03/2010)