Brutal Fucking Justice

Ya know, everyone gives Mel a hard time. Maybe it's the hate-on he's got for one particular group of people. It's okay if you don't like Mel Gibson for that reason. That's just fine. There's one thing you've got to remember about good ol' Mel, though: when someone fucks with his proverbial shit, he won't stand for it. When he gets the word "revenge" in his head, he doesn't rest until he's got a scumbag's decapitated head mounted on his mantel. So to speak.

What I mean to say is that despite all of his shortcomings, Mel Gibson doesn't fuck up when it comes to his fictional characters getting what's coming to them. He proved this in the 90s (Ahem...), and is proving it again in 2010. Caught a midnight screening of "Edge of Darkness," tonight, and all I can say is that I honestly forgot that it was titled as such. I had convinced myself that it was called "Brutal Justice," because that's what this movie was. Everyone gets shot or run over or punched. And while there are parts (and conspiracies) that are mildly hokey (and utilize the hot words "turrrrr" and "turrrist"), the movie is incredibly entertaining. It's really just another movie about how corporations are awful and will do anything for money, but most other movies don't utilize brutal justice to the degree that Mel Gibson does.

Verdict: Brutally Stoked.A friend told me he couldn't wait to see this because he thought it was going to be comedy of the year. Certainly there's a fair amount of unintentional humor, but it's really only the result of failed attempts at one-liners. In actuality, this was by far one of the better thrillers I've seen in the last few years. I could have gone without "terrorist" and "threat to America" business, but that seems to be what movies use these days and it's not going to stop anytime soon. Mel doles out brutal justice with ease throughout the course of the movie, but nothing is as satisfying as his use of dairy products in the final showdown. Great revenge flick.