Hacksaw Ridge Movie Review

      Hacksaw Ridge is the latest installment from director Mel Gibson. It follows the true story of Desmond Doss’ enlistment into the U.S. Army during World War II as a conscientious objector, refusing to use or even touch a fire arm. The film focuses on his home life and struggles in passing basic training. He is then shipped off as a medic in the Battle of Okinawa and performs what is nothing short of a miracle. That’s all I’ll say, in case you don’t know too much about the story.

      Let’s first get into the opening half of the film. I appreciated that it started of with Desmond’s childhood because the scenes from that period help you understand the motivations behind his character. This is only a very small chunk of the movie. It then flashes forward to the 1940’s before Desmond decides to enlist. This section mainly focuses on him meeting his future wife and his family’s reactions of him becoming an army medic. This is where I am very torn with the movie. I liked a lot of this beginning part and thought it offered a nice contrast to when he enters combat. However, I felt it could have been a tad shorter and a little less cheesy. I really don’t know because even though I criticize it, the rest of the film may not have been nearly as powerful if it had been changed. Either way, it’s a very small critique.

     The next act revolves around Desmond entering basic training. Although these scenes are definitely not the major highlights of the film they are done really well and a lot of appropriate humor is sprinkled in to add some needed levity to the story. This is also the part of the movie when you get to see how truly dedicated Doss is to following his convictions. You start to feel for him because he doesn’t even once retaliate even though he is judged so quickly and treated so unfairly. 

     Now we get into the amazingly spectacular and jaw-dropping third act when he and his unit are forced into the Battle of Okinawa. It feels wrong and a little weird to say brutal reenactments of the atrocities committed in war are spectacular but in this context I can’t really think of better words. Hacksaw Ridge has by far the best battle scenes I have ever scene in a war film. To me they even clearly beat out the crown jewel, Saving Private Ryan. I mean I had heard that the combat scenes were amazing and gruesome but I still was skeptical of just how good they would be. All I can say, is go see this movie in theaters because it is truly an experience to see the battle scenes on the big screen. I don’t know how he did it but Gibson captures how scary it is to have speeding bullets being passed by you left and right and how one look above a bunker or quick movement could lead to a bullet in the head. You basically get the feeling that when you enter battle and the shit hits the fan all plans go out the window and you’re like a deer in the headlights. I’ve heard and read some criticism that this film is somewhat of a paradox since it is about a pacifist and at the same time glorifies war. To me, that is so far from the truth. The half severed bodies and horrors you see in this movie get you thinking that in the end nobody is winning a war. One side may surrender before the other but it’s too late because everyone has suffered unfathomable amounts of turmoil. The look on the soldiers faces and reactions they have after they come back from battle are so so so so so powerful. They’re almost lifeless. It’s like they’ve entered deaths door and come back to the other side to tell the tale. There’s a scene towards the end where Doss comes down from the ridge and freaks out after his fellow soldiers touch him. Little elements like this resonate with you so much and help you see the terrible things war can do to a person’s psyche. 

         The acting on all sides is strong. Andrew Garfield is great, Vince Vaughn has a great dramatic performance on his resume now and Hugo Weaving was strong as always. In the end, the film’s strongest aspect is it gets your mind racing. Maybe we shouldn’t judge so quickly? Does war really have any winners? How far can your resilience take you? The musical score is great and very fitting. Desmond Doss is the definition of a hero and the fact that men like him exist remind me that the human spirit is an amazingly remarkable thing. After I walked out of the movie I felt like I had just gotten punched in the gut. But don’t take that as a bad thing. That’s the feeling I get when I’ve just seen something really powerful. The first act may hurt the film oh so slightly but Hacksaw Ridge gets a solid solid A from me. As a last little remark, I appreciated the ending credits a lot because in many true story films I always wonder about small things that may have actually happened or were inserted to serve the plot and here you get the video tapes of the true life man talking about his unbelievable stories.