Review of Hacksaw Ridge (2016) by Brandon W — 27 Apr 2017

Hacksaw Ridge is directed by Mel Gibson, and it stars Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, and Vince Vaughn in a war film about a pacifist that wants to participate in World War II as a medic, but he doesn't want to kill a person, not even touch a gun, which irritates a lot of the commanding officers and orders Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) to use it, and he doesn't want to.

It's really nice to see Mel Gibson to go back in the director chair as he haven't done it in 10 years for Apocalypto. As for his long hiatus, this is a definite return from him that this might be a way for him to come back.

I wasn't expecting Andrew Garfield to have that kind of accent, but I start to grow on it in the first few minutes, and he was terrific in it. He's not the only one that did a great job as Sam Worthington also did great in it, Luke Bracey was really good also which I haven't heard about him before except this and the remake of Point Break, and to my surprise, Vince Vaughn doing a drama performance as a commanding officer, and he sells it in this, while also being likable, which is a refreshing change from the typical comedy films that he's in.

For the first half, I like how it doesn't even feel like a Mel Gibson film, at least the films that he's well known for, as it was about the backstory of Desmond Doss and the romantic story with Teresa Palmer's character, which I thought was really sweet and adorable to watch with some funny moments between them.

Once you find out about his backstory, it makes a lot of sense about why he doesn't want to touch a gun, and it makes it frustrating to watch, but in a good way, that he really wants to be in the Army, but the Army is making it really hard for him to fit in.

The second half of the film is definitely a Mel Gibson film as the war battle sequences are intense and a bit horrifying to watch as it's very gory, which makes this probably one of the most realistic war scenes since Saving Private Ryan.

I also really like that Desmond still doesn't try to kill a person, even if they're friends keep dying right in front of him, but it does make him wonder about his faith, which I think is really interesting and is the closest to a religion film that doesn't act like a Pure Flix film, and it doesn't say that you should share this belief also.

Hacksaw Ridge is an amazing film that if this is what it'll take for Mel Gibson to come back, I'm honestly ok with that.