In the past, Mel Gibson showed a fondness for cinematic violence that bordered on the fetishistic. The laborious torture scenes in The Passion of the Christ, for example, had an almost orgiastic quality about them. I remember thinking at the time that it was (no pun intended) overkill. Even his choice of acting roles in films he didn't direct (like Porter and the Lethal Weapon series) reflects a near-pathological love of brutality.

I can only wonder what is going on internally with Gibson in choosing to make a film about a hero who avoids violence on principle. I hope this reflects some type of personal conversion process, but it seems he is still wrestling with his attraction to the bloody side.