Despite Gibson's chequered past, he is still capable of creating gripping and emotional movies

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2017)

Hacksaw Ridge is a war drama film starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Mel Gibson. To quote South Park; "Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but the son-of-a-b***h knows story structure!", and that is made very clear in his most recent directorial effort. This film proves that despite Gibson's chequered past, he is still capable of creating gripping and emotional movies.
The film depicts the true story of Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield), a combat medic who because of his religious moral code, refused to use a weapon during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. Despite initially being labelled as a coward by his fellow soldiers, Doss ends up saving several lives in the midst of the bloodshed.
As to be expected, director Mel Gibson does not hold back in his depiction of the carnage of war; bodies are shredded by bullets, heads are blown off, and soldiers are set on fire. However, due to the infrequency of the violence throughout the film (most of the violence takes place during the third act), it never feels glorified. Andrew Garfield gives possibly the performance of his career as Desmond T. Doss. From his scrawny appearance at the beginning to his courageous combat medic persona on the battlefield, Garfield always feels like he's giving it his all.
I rate it a solid 9/10