“Edge of Darkness” Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Jeffery Wright

“Edge of Darkness,” starring Mel Gibson, is based on the BBC's 1985 award-winning six-part television series. Wikipedia states the writer, Troy Kennedy Martin, was greatly concerned with politics, nuclear power, and environmentalism during his day and crafted “this story about a detective who turns into a tree.” In a list of the top 20 drama series, the British Film Institute places the original “Edge of Darkness” in fourth place. Veronica Taylor of the BFI describes the show as “mixed personal tragedy with global threat, comedy with menace, action sequences with politics, realism with myth and fantasy.” Martin Campbell, director of the television version, also will direct the remake.

The trailer for the movie starts with detective Thomas Craven (Mel Gibson) shaving as his daughter, Emma (Bojana Novakovic), leaves him a message on his answering machine, telling him she will be home soon. Then a flashback plays of Emma as a kid, giggling and covered in shaving cream. Back in the present, Thomas goes to pick her up and on the way home, they have a nice father-daughter conversation. Just when you think this is a trailer for a Hallmark movie, Emma is shot moments after returning home. Everyone assumes Thomas is the target of the shooting that kills his daughter. He becomes a vigilante, seeking answers, but as he investigates further, government and corporate forces close in around him and he learns his daughter was not the person he thought she was.

The “Edge of Darkness” television series seems intriguing, not only because of the interesting premise, but also because of the way it shifts between different genres. From what I see in the trailer of the movie version, though, is that the remake has lost the fantastical aspects of its predecessor. And while it's comforting to know the original director will return, Hollywood is known for tarnishing material the masses once loved.

“Edge of Darkness” will be released 29 January 2010.

View the trailer for "Edge of Darkness" below. Thoughts?