Hacksaw Ridge Tells an Extraordinary Story With Some Great Strengths and A Couple of Glaring Weakness

Rating: 8/10 (11 November 2016)

I went to go see Hacksaw Ridge with a couple of friends largely because of the really positive word-of-mouth surrounding it. Some people didn't want to go see it because Mel Gibson was directing. I get that, the guy hasn't exactly been an inspiring force lately and I in no way support what he's been advocating for. But you try to separate the art from the artist and the previews looked good with some beautiful period recreation and some unconventional casting choices. I'm happy I went and saw it although I didn't think it was perfect.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead* Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) is a man with a strong code. He believes in the war effort against Japan and Nazi Germany but he believes even more strongly in the Bible and his interpretation of it is that it is wrong to take life even in war. He made it through life with his abusive alcoholic father Tom Doss (Hugo Weaving) and has recently met the love of his life Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer). But he signs up to go to war and is treated like a coward by his company Sargent Howell (Vince Vaughn) his Cpt., Cpt. Glover (Sam Worthington) and the other soldiers in the company. He has to go through military court but he gets permission to ship out with the rest of the group to go fight the Japanese in Okinawa.
I want to start with the actual story of Desmond Doss. It's an amazing tale of heroism and it absolutely deserved its own movie. I would congratulate the creative team for telling his story in such a visceral yet compassionate way. He's not perfect and what the army puts him through in his training is brutal. It could have been more violent or vulgar and I'm glad the movie didn't go that way. It underscores how strong his conviction was and how his commitment to serve was amazing in his own unique way. I'll get into how I thought the movie was a little too sentimental later but they're very respectful to their hero and I appreciated that.
The next thing to talk about are the absolutely amazing war action scenes. I thought they were the best I've seen since Saving Private Ryan. People are blown up, burned alive and gunned down horribly. The movie doesn't glorify the violence though, it treats it like it should be treated, as humanity destroying. Every second your flinching or wincing because the movie plants you right in the centre of it and although its hard to watch, Mel Gibson sure knows how to film a big epic like this. Hacksaw Ridge is worth seeing just for those moments.
I'll talk about Andrew Garfield a little later but this movie also features some great supporting performances. Teresa Palmer is on a roll lately, I really liked her in Lights Out and she builds on that with a great job in this. She's a good mix of sweet and earnest and she's memorable in what could have been a throwaway part. I couldn't believe how good Vince Vaughn was. He really steals the show, he's his funny self but he also really turns on the dramatic chops. I hope he gets more roles like this. This was also a pleasant return to form for Sam Worthington. He's not an Oscar calibre actor but he gets a bad rap and when you give him good material, he does good work. Hugo Weaving also has a nice turn. His character really drives home that PTSD existed even back then and while you don't like his character, you can't help but respect his performance. Luke Bracey was also solid, his character is a little clichéd but he was decent.
I really enjoyed this movie but for me there were 2 points where the movie couldn't get out of its own way. The first and biggest problem is that a lot of the dialogue is really cringe worthy. There were so many times during the movie that the actors would open their mouths and completely kill the movie's momentum with super hokey stuff. It was a buzzkill and it was too bad. The other is that I thought Andrew Garfield laid it on a little thick. I don't want to blame him too much with that dialogue but he's so golly-gee innocent at the beginning that he's hard to take seriously. He does get better as the movie goes along though so take that criticism with a little salt.
This movie would have been a 9 or possibly even higher if I didn't have those problems. The movie is beautiful, engaging and you don't want to miss any of the action. I just couldn't get past those couple stumbling blocks. I would still recommend this highly, maybe you won't have such a big problem with those things. If you're interested in a good war movie, check this out.