Great Performances, check; Mel Gibson directing, check; One of the year's best movies, not.

Rating: 7/10 (30 January 2017)

Desmond Doss' story is absolutely worth to turn into motion picture, but I left the cinema not that amazed.
First, let's talk about the performances. Andrew Garfield (AG) is committed to his role in every aspect. A hillbilly conscientious objector who wants to find a purpose in the middle of a world conflict. The gestures, the way he leans a little his head when too excited, the uncontrollable laugh, well, everything. All of his nominations are more than well deserved, congratulations. There's also the supporting roles which were taken to high precision by the cast, making this an all believable portrayal of WWII.
Now, direction. Mel Gibson (MG), I love MG, I truly do. If he was able to make AG be worthy of an Oscar nomination, it means he has the ability as a director to exploit acting skills in his performers; that's bonus points for the almighty MG. He succeeds in making this an all emotional and brutal (for not saying gory and explicit) two hours and twenty minute journey you can enjoy for the sake of good will, staying true to what you believe and transcending as a human being. In terms of filming techniques and cinematography I won't comment, I'm still learning about that so, I will jump to what's next.
So, do I find this movie one of the year's best? Absolutely not. The movie does not make a proper treatment about this extraordinary real life event. Some critics say that the movie is at the same height of "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), which I find difficult to believe. Let's go stage by stage; first of all, the love story feels at some times taken out from some clichéd love stories. There's a feeling of excessive heroism depicted in many scenes; the scenes of slow motion entry and blind firing helps to this. The music as well: it plays at the moments where Desmond is carrying someone with explosions behind. This gave me the feeling that the movie was at some level produced by Michael Bay, which is something that can never be good. Reason why I can't catalog this as a MG masterpiece.
Something extra: in some scenes, the film editing fails and seems like a bad green/blue screen effect; the ships also look short of CGI budget.
My final consensus: Hacksaw Ridge takes the best of leading man Andrew Garfield and master director Mel Gibson for delivering a brutal and emotional flick. Sadly, it doesn't proves to be an instant masterpiece due to some excessive heroism and clichéd action sequences.