Hacksaw Ridge Falls Short of Expectations

Rating: 5/10 (10 November 2016)

I want to start by being honest, I don't really like most war movies and especially the ones that have come out in recent years. Too often do war movies glorify the subject and I think that betrays what war movies inherently should be. War is bad, it is probably one of if not the most difficult things a human can go through and to see it made into something to sell movie tickets aggravates me. Hacksaw Ridge does not necessarily have this problem but it sure is chock full of other problems.
Hacksaw Ridge tells the story of Desmond Doss played by Andrew Garfield, who despite being a conscientious objector becomes an American combat medic in WWII. Doss believes that the Sixth Commandment(Thou shalt not kill) should be observed at all times, but feels that he cannot sit home while his fellow countrymen fight for his country. Doss, no matter the quality of the movie based on him is a true American hero through and through. He is a fantastic display of courage in the face of hell and again no opinion of any movie can change that.
Hacksaw Ridge is probably most popularly known for its director Mel Gibson. It marks his return to directing after a 10 year absence. I don't want so say the poor direction of the movie is because of his long lay off but I know Mel can do better than this. The movie moves slowly and most of the first half of the movie is incredibly cornball. I could count maybe 2 impressive camera shots in this movie but for the overwhelming majority of the movie it is lackluster. The movie obviously has a strong religious message but Mr. Gibson feels the need to shove it in your face every chance he gets.
While the cast is pretty good, there are some serious miscasts here and some performances that just don't make sense. Andrew Garfield is solid in the lead role but that is about as good as it gets for the acting. Hugo Weaving as the father chews scenery and seems to have been missing for a few weeks. To be fair its not all his fault, his character is so poorly handled in the movie, he is shown to be a man going through some serious PTSD but fuels his sons anger. He seems to be a good father until they don't want him to be. Vince Vaughn is severely miscast. I really don't think this movie about such a serious subject needed a comedic actor in it, but then to turn in basically a full on comedic performance is puzzling.
There are so many more things that make this movie almost unwatchable, but at least the combat scenes make up for them somewhat. The tactics used by the soldiers in the movie don't seem exactly authentic but none the less if there was any enjoyment that I got from Hacksaw Ridge it was from them, not because of the bloodshed, but because they seemed to be the only well paced part of the movie. Gibson plays a fine line between blood lust and trying to show the horror or war and I think he falls more on the side of the latter. Even with that I cannot recommend this movie. If you enjoy WWII history or even just American military history you may get some things out of it all in all Hacksaw Ridge falls short of its lofty expectations.