Utter waste of time

Rating: 4/10 (2 November 2016)

Hoo-rah! If it weren't for the admittedly intriguing story of an extremely religious man serving his country by helping the wounded, with no firearm, this would simply be yet another war movie glorifying America while their enemies, in this case the Japanese, are faceless and all the same, serving only as objects to shoot at. Enemies.
But let's head back to the beginning. The movie sets the tone by beginning with a fiery scene, in which we see destruction and mayhem on the battlefield. Our main character Desmond Doss begins to narrate, quoting scripture, which gives us an idea where the film is heading. We are then taken back to his childhood, where we learn why he refuses to wield a firearm.
This serves a nice introduction into why Desmond is the way he is. What doesn't work though is that barely 15 minutes into the movie, he meets a girl. Ten minutes later they want to get married.
Given this is a two hour movie, this entire sequence could have been snipped, making for a snappier movie, while also allowing us to not suffer through the awful, sentimental melancholic bullcrap that we are forced to watch.
This section of the movie honestly feels like a bog-standard romantic comedy, not to mention it feels very out of touch with the tone of the rest of the movie. It feels like it was shoehorned in, by someone lacking any ounce of filmmaking skill.
After this trite, we move to the army barracks for training. Desmond's refusal to carry a gun is seen by most of his comrades (and superiors) as cowardly, and his religious beliefs are mocked. "This is war" he is told, implying that God's commandments don't apply on the battlefield.
As if we are watching a remake of Full Metal Jacket, the next thirty or so minutes is dedicated to obstacle courses, a drill officer screaming insults at the privates (with little humour, unlike Kubrick's classic) while Desmond is alienated from the group. A religious, southern Private Pyle. Only Desmond's fate is far different, as we know.
Soon we find ourselves in the battlefield, as the film borrows another scene, this one from Band of Brothers, as the fresh soldiers see the battered men retreating from their goal: to capture and hold Hacksaw Ridge. Much like the entire film, this scenes has no semblance of subtlety at all, as the camera focuses on the trucks carrying dead soldiers, all conveniently placed so that their heads are at the end of the truck, where we can see them. Oh, and their faces are all covered in a ton of blood - and not dried blood either.
I'm not sure how dead men can bleed fresh blood either, but this film doesn't seem to have a great relationship with the concept of logic.
The final part of the film is where the action takes place, and it seems clear from the start that this is made for the Call of Duty crowd. Soldiers are killed all over, but since we don't get to know any of them, their deaths have no impact at all, and are dismissed in a one minute conversation that night between the men left. The same can be said for the men Desmond is able to save. Who are they? Mel Gibson takes some cues from Passion of the Christ, as the battle scenes are needlessly bloody and gory. Multiple shots of legless men, intestines lying on the ground, rats eating maggots out of a corpse it is far too much.
War is hell, we get it, but dwelling on the physical impact so much affects the rest of the movie. There should have been a lot to say, as Desmond's story is an incredible story of bravery and dedication. The fact that he had no gun on the battlefield is barely explored at all either, nor the situation of a religious man obeying the ten commandments on a war-field.
There is nothing intelligent here. Simply another war film that screams "GO America!" to the rest of the world, as we watch them incinerate their enemies in slow motion, with swelling, orchestral music in the background.
I liked Blood Father. But this film is a joke.
www.epilepticmoondancer.net