Continuing my plan to watch every Mel Gibson movie in order I come to Edge Of Darkness (2010)This was the first movie starring Mel Gibson in a leading role in 8 years. And to say a lot had happened in those years is an understatement. He stood by Robert Downey Jr's side during his personal problems and A hate filled rant whilst being pulled for DUI. Apocalypto doing well despite being a tough sell on top of Gibson's scandal was proof audiences will ignore a certain amount of bad behaviour.Plot In A Paragraph: As homicide detective Thomas Craven (Gibson) investigates the murder of his daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.This is a tough one for me to review, as I was a fan of the BBC mini series this is based on. They obviously changed a lot, to fit it into the time constraints of one movie, but it's not bad, it's not great by any means, but it's an above average movie that has a few 'jump' moments in there too. All the supporting cast are fine, and Winstone pops up in possibly my favourite performance from him, but this is Gibson's movie, and for me, in Edge of Darkness, he remains a likable man with a natural screen presence, whose character I didn't have too hard of a time getting behind. Edge Of Darkness grossed $43 million dollars at the Domestic Box Office to end 2010 the 73rd highest grossing movie of the year. So, it wasn't a hit for Gibson.  But it didn't totally bomb either.  If anything, it can probably be viewed as a minor victory, that some (maybe only older action fans) audiences didn't seem to be holding his scandals against him.And the THOSE tapes dropped.

Largely a fairly suspenseful, yet subdued conspiracy thriller, with some 'fun' trips like the delusions of Craven (Gibson) and quite often a fierce injection of action; yes, it was sort of fresh.Nearing the end, the big question arose how Campbell was going to work all this out into a satisfying finale. Well, didn't I just expect it: Craven gets cheated, imprisoned, breaks out with great ease and goes 'Payback' (1999) on all of them asses. The last part of that I expected to be more subtle, but it didn't disappoint anyway. And then, Jedburgh (Winstone) even takes things up a notch; the idea in itself is terrific, but, altogether, this is still not an exceptional film. I had a fun enough, though.A big 6 out of 10. And I'm still (all the more) very curious about the original series (1985) by the same director!

This was a decent enough cop revenge thriller with an old-school 90's vibe to it and extreme bursts of violence that made me jump and say things like "holy sh*t!" Mel plays a Boston homicide detective and is essentially angry-cop-dad for the entire movie, showing only one emotion (grumpy) in a very Harrison Ford sort of way. He is kinda justified I guess after his daughter gets (violently) blown away right beside him. Initially it's believed that 'Thomas' was the intended target but as he probes into her life he discovers she was hiding some secrets and in big trouble.The plot is pretty good, a little vague in places. I liked it when Mel's character crossed the line and no longer cared about the consequences and how he talked to his daughter's ghost throughout. Good ending too. 6/28/14

What was a passably good thriller turned into a weapons fest and fast car crash to bring Mel Gibson's career back from the dead. Every piece of action totally predictable and all the subtlety of the TV series buried in an orgy of medium calibre weapons and liberal showers of pasta sauce. The plot is lost in endless takes of Mel's suffering face- the nearest he ever gets to any sort of intellectuality. Boys with toys replaces detailed analysis of a sinister cover-up. Winstone is adequate but the original ending with Joe Don Baker slamming together two critical masses of plutonium carries more punch than this yet another gory shoot out. The point is totally lost. About as thrilling and absorbing as steamed dumplings; a flavourless, odourless colourless turkey.