Change Your Image
tim-danaher
Reviews
Edge of Darkness (2010)
Why Change Something So Brilliant?
The reason that the original Edge of Darkness was so successful was that it was a groundbreaking television series (it had the fastest repeat showing from BBC 2 to BBC1 of any program in the station's history). But this adaptation does no justice to the original: it's simply a formulaic thriller. And that cheesy, toe-curling final scene I'm sure would have the show's original writer, Troy Kennedy Martin, spinning in his grave.
I know that the pressure is on when you have to cut down a six-part television series into a two-hour film, but the screenwriters left out some of the most essential parts of the original story: the Black Flowers, for instance, which were the original series' twist. I liked the conceit of Ray Winstone playing Jedburgh (the original series was set in Britain, and Jedburgh was an American), and the casting of Bojana Novakovic as Emma Craven was inspired. But how on earth could they leave out Jedburgh's pivotal scene when he finally turns the tables on the Northmoor executives, its shareholders and the army? I'll give you a hint: he doesn't shoot them.
really, when you compare it to the original, this is just one big *meh*.
The Collector (2009)
Very (Un)pleasantly Surprised.
Pleasantly surprised since this is a way-above average shocker. Unpleasantly surprised because there's an awful lot of unpleasant surprises!
This had me jumping, open-mouthed, rewinding to check that I'd REALLY just seen what I saw...I don't think I've been as jumpy as this since the tower scene in 'In Bruges'.The editing of the gore scenes was brilliantly done, adding to the tension and the in- your-face, jumping-out-of-the-shadows quality. I'm also surprised that the writers and director were able to keep the ending they did: I thought it would have been preview- screened out of existence.
The film did take a while to get going, but when it hits its stride...phew! Although I'd never seen any of the actors before, the performances were top- notch.
Makes the last SAW films look like a teddy-bear's picnic...apparently, it was written by the writers of the last few SAW movies. They seem to have found their form again.