Edge of darkness (2010)

For those of you who dont know, Edge of darkness is a remake of a (very) British miniseries that was broadcast in 1986, and very much a creation of its time, playing on the fear of the nuclear war. It is a superior piece of entertainment with a great lead performance by Bob Peck and an awesome script that neatly ties together to a somewhat ambigious ending. I mention this because I had the original fresh in mind when I watched this and started comparing the two from the start. Actually, you shouldnt do that. Edge of darkness the movie is a fine conspiracythriller with a couple of excellent performances from especially Mel Gibson, but also Ray Winstone and Danny Huston as some of the conspirators.

The movie starts with Mel playing Thomas Craven, a policeofficer in Boston, picking up his daughter at the trainstation. She is not feeling very well, throwing up several times when they arrive at his home and when they decide to take her to the hospital an armed man is waiting outside, shouts "CRAVEN!" and blows his daughter away with a shotgun. The police start treating this as a mistaken attempt on Mel, but we know better, dont we? Yes. Conspiracy time! This means murders, murders and murders. And nasty governmentpeople of course! And some more murders. Though the plot isnt exactly rocketscience (There are no loose ends here, everything is explained and taken care of) it works fine as entertainment. The productionvalues are excellent, the acting great and it moves at just that right pace that we want our violent thrillers to have. Dont compare it to the original, watch it for the fine thriller that it is. And face the facts: The seventies are over. The days for violent conspiracythrillers are over. We take what we can get and Edge of darkness is a fine treat.

Oh, do see the original. It is even better. Though not as violent.