Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge is the type of war movie that they just don't make any more. The film revels in war film cliches for the first hour or so. Then Gibson reminds us that he knows how to stage war scenes very well. In fact, the scenes at Hacksaw Ridge rival Saving Private Ryan in the shear fury and bloody chaos that fill the screen. By the end, the film is a surprisingly effective tale of sacrifice and belief.
Playing Desmond Doss, Andrew Garfield turn in his best performance to date. Doss so easily could be an annoying character but Garfield imbues him with real heart and spirit. He is a Seventh Day Adventist who enlists in World War II but has no intention of ever holding a firearm. He wants to serve as a medic.
The early half of the film focuses on Doss's family life and the meeting and marrying of his wife Dorothy (Teresa Palmer). These scenes feel like they have been lifted from a 1950's war film. The film looks picturesque, almost glowing with warmness during these moments. This part of the film works the least. Hugo Weaving is good as Doss's alcoholic father but the storytelling here is clunky at best. Gibson and screenwriters Robert Shenkkam and Andrew Knight setup all the necessary threads for us to invest in Doss but the beats feel familiar and uninspired. Doss eventually enlists but must fight a court marshall charge for disobeying an officer who commanded him to pick up a gun. While it is important for the audience to understand Doss's convictions, these scenes lack dramatic power.
Once the men go to war, the film kicks into full gear. Even a miscast Vince Vaughn doesn't stop the thrilling spectacle Gibson crafts here. He has always had a particular knack for using extreme gore to show the horrors of what men face in battle. Hacksaw Ridge is no exception. The battle sequence that kicks off the Hacksaw Ridge location is shocking in its visceral power, the blood and sinew flying all over the place.
Gibson and Garfield never make Doss a complicated man. He is a simplified hero, a true patriot. Gibson wants us to see that a man driven by his faith can achieve near impossible tasks. Doss ended up saving a lot of men. It is odd though that a film about a man put on trial for his beliefs is made by a star who has been publicly shamed for his beliefs.
Gibson and Garfield never make Doss a complicated man. He is a simplified hero, a true patriot. Gibson wants us to see that a man driven by his faith can achieve near impossible tasks. Doss ended up saving a lot of men. It is odd though that a film about a man put on trial for his beliefs is made by a star who has been publicly shamed for his beliefs.
The themes of faith and heroism work for the most part here. Hacksaw Ridge feels like an old-fashioned war picture. That is until it gets to those flat-out, technically brilliant battle scenes. While not everything works in the film, Gibson and Garfield manage to pull at the heartstrings and stir up a certain amount of admiration for Doss. The film does his story justice and marks a welcome return of Mel Gibson as a director.
3.5/5
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