Movie of the Week - Edge of Darkness

So this is Mel Gibsons first acting role since Signs, after which he became a druken antisematic hermit for like 6 years. But he's back out of the closet like a bat out of hell in this half action, half mystery, half conspiracy, half killing rampage of a movie. It's actually an adaptation of british mini-series from the 1980's, and is dirceted by the same guy that did them, Martin Campbell.

The movie starts out a lot like Taken, where Gibson really likes his daughter, but he hasn't seen her much lately, and he doesn't really know what she does for a living any more, and he feels like hes lost touch with her, blah blah blah. It kinda takes a while to get into it with all of the daughter stuff, and these random flashbacks of home videos, but then out of no where BLAMMMM. His daughter is shot dead on his front pourch, with a shot gun I might add, like gory freakin wound, her guts are hanging out a bit, and Gibson is trying to put pressure on the wound when its like the size of her whole stomach. Now since Gibson is a cop, the polices immediate assumption is that Gibson was the real target. They do the whole examination of the crime seen, while Gibson just sits in his living room looking like at any moment he`s gonna go on a mad killing spree, but that doesnt happen till later. His boss tells him that he can't work on the case since it a personal matter, but obviously Gibson doesn't listen. For an old man, he can still move pretty freakin fast (that's the magic of movies). He's pretty smart too, and it doesnt take him too long to figure out theres a conspiracy taking place between his daughter and the company she worked for.

Gibson has some good action scenes, however I was hoping for a few more. Theres also this character who's helping Gibson out, played by Ray Winston, who is excellent. And the head of the company Gibson`'s daughter worked for is played by Danny Houston who always plays a terrific bad guy. Although the plot is a smidge tough to follow at times, the pace is kept well between Gibson beating the pulp out of people and keeping out of the grasp of some CIA guys that have been ordered to take him out. It's actually a pretty good acting job by Gibson, cause he has to use a Boston accent through the whole thing, which kinda sounds like bugs bunny if you ask me, but what eves, its the way they talk, I guess they`re all fruit cakes in Boston.

Anywho, I was pretty impressed with the acting and the action, and the way people get fucked up in it, cause it happens a couple of times, and they dont hold back on the gore which is great. It's not as action packed as taken, but it's got some better acting, so it balances out better. I think this was a great movie for Gibson to come back to acting in, cause it's a lot like his old movies like Mad Max, or Lethal weapon where he is bad ass that you really did not want to mess with. Im giving this movie a 4/5, and I'm looking forward to some more movies by Gibson in the future. Here's the trailer for Edge of Darkness: