Edge of Darkness

This movie is like Taken, but without the happy ending. And without Liam Neeson, who is probably better liked by most of the population. Surprisingly, or not, I am not giving anything away by saying that. You can surmise most of the plot from any of the trailers. Actually, the only way the trailers may be deceiving is by making the movie appear to have more of a plot than it really does. You have hope when the movie begins, after the imminent death that you wait for for the first ten minutes, that you might get to watch Mel Gibson become a hero. Don’t hold you breath. Seriously, you will die.

The movie is a movie about revenge, nothing more. In many ways it also reminded me of Law Abiding Citizen – a man with nothing left to lose taking everything from others. But, while Gerard Butler attempted to take down the justice system, albeit because he was probably mentally deranged with rage, we see Gibson ruining the lives of everyone he encounters to accomplish very little, while also appearing nuts. Law Abiding Citizen also seemed to have some cleverness to it, like a mystery you were trying to solve, with characters that were intelligent and intriguing. While there were certainly things you didn’t know about in this movie, there were also a lot of gaps of logic in the characters’ actions, and so when they succeeded it seemed hard to credit the win to them.

Lots of people die. Like a lot. And the story you get to explain the deaths and the violence doesn’t quite seem like enough to justify even all those movie deaths. Gibson didn’t do a poor job; I just wasn’t sure why I was watching him. Possibly the most likeable character was the mysterious Englishman who’s role in everything was sporadic and confusing. The constant flashbacks to happy time’s Gibson had with the daughter are sad, but seem out of place in a movie where someone dies every other scene. So if you just kind of like watching people die, with some unexplained action thrown in there, go for it.

I don't feel like writing a song about this. Deal. Or just repeat the words death and kill over and over in alternating loud and hushed tones to some scary movie music.