As a seasoned homicide detective, Thomas Craven has seen the bleakest side of humanity. But nothing prepares him for the toughest investigation of his life: the search for his only daughter Emma's killer. Now, he is on a personal mission to uncover the disturbing secrets surrounding her murder, including corporate corruption, government collusion and Emma's own mysterious life.
19 Feb Edge of Darkness (2010)
Knowledge Aforehand
Careful, this contains not only spoilers for this film, but the original teleplay as well.
I’ve had the opportunity to see this close to the extraordinary original. In a fascinating superposition, both are by the same director. The original is one of the best long form film experiences I know. This is tedious and an offensive waste.
One reason is that we never knew in the original where it was going. In actual fact, neither did the people involved: they started without knowing where it was going. It surprised and shifted worlds and genres; it shifted our relationship as viewer; it used different and contradictory devices, most of these effectively. Even afterward, you are not sure what you have seen because like life it is many movies folded together, some more visible — some more governing.
Now this. From the first sequence you know everything about it. You know you will have a detective who will discover things as you do. You know he will get his revenge in predictable Gibson fashion, by some sort of visible immediate and violent justice. You know there will be a shadowy, all-powerful conspiracy with a single evil leader — how else to allow the serving of justice? We just sit through this as we witness the events we expect.
This is ‘Apocalypto‘ to ‘Apocalypse Now.‘ I wouldn‘t mind so much, but the original is such a gem, and could have been usefully exploited in a number of ways. I think of the similar travesty visited on ‘The Singing Detective.‘ In both cases, the remakes were invented by Mel Gibson‘s production company, Icon. Like the Marvel production company, they are the dummies that Orson Welles described in his lives.
When Mel dies, his negative influence in the world will include his destructive roles and his misbegotten religious hates, but the greatest will be the damage he has done to cinematic narrative.
Posted in 2011
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
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