Edge of Darkness

Campbell's topnotch production team yields predictably polished results, but the director's decision to revisit the late Troy Kennedy Martin's teleplay, finally, feels lacking.

Gibson proves he’s still not to be messed with in a film that reasserts him as a sturdy, if rather grizzled leading man. A pity, though, this required Campbell to cookie-cut his masterly ’80s TV series into a formulaic actioner.

Edge of Darkness is reasonably well executed, but its competence reeks of fatigue. Another dead kid. Another angry dad. Another day at the office.

Gibson's acting has deepened. Too bad his comeback vehicle springs so many leaks.

Winstone's interaction with Gibson provides the movie with much of its interest. For the rest, it's a skillful exercise in CGI and standard-order thriller supplies.

Sadly, the shock factor is lost by the conclusion of this film

The film certainly has its moments - most of them when Gibson, in his first feature-film role since 2002's Signs, brings out Mad Mel.

The squeamish beware, the R16 rating belts out some moments of hard fast brutal violence, this is not a film the whole family can enjoy.

But even with my lily-liver I managed OK, and overall left feeling most satisfied indeed. Edge of Darkness won’t win awards, and it’s not a genre-defying boundary-breaker, but as far as conspiracy thrillers go, this one got my pulse-racing, my eyes glued to the screen, and was far more than I’d expected.

An intense Mel Gibson performance anchors this brutally effective crime thriller.

An uneven, somewhat meandering thriller is given emotional pull by Mel Gibson’s excellent comeback performance. The lethal weapon hasn’t lost it.