A formidable anti-war film elevated by a sublime performance from Andrew Garfield

Rating: Null/10 (19 February 2017)

Hacksaw Ridge is a formidable anti-war film that's closer to popular war films like Saving Private Ryan and Platoon than anti-war masterpieces like Full Metal Jacket and Paths of Glory. The film is elevated by sublime performances from Andrew Garfield, Hugo Weaving, and the lovely Teresa Palmer. Mel Gibson is certainly back with a bang and seems to be following the footsteps of Clint Eastwood. All we need from Gibson now is a Revisionist Western. Speaking of Gibson, his choice of including the archive footage of Private Doss and other survivors from the Battle of Okinawa helps add a lot of weight to the film.
With as many as 6 Oscar nominations to its credit, Hacksaw Ridge is certainly one of the biggest films of the year. Apart from the brilliant screenplay and direction, it is Garfield's performance that makes Hacksaw Ridge what it is. 2016 proved to be an incredible year for Garfield who delivered not one but two great performances-- the other being his turn of a stoic Jesuit Priest in Martin Scorsese's Silence. It's an interesting coincidence that in both these films, Garfield played a Christian pacifist. A real pity is that Garfield didn't get a second nomination for his sublime performance in Silence which is even better than his brilliant turn in Hacksaw Ridge.
Hacksaw Ridge looks set to win the Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. A win in any other category would be a real bonus.
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