Hacksaw Ridge

This review may contain spoilers!

Mel Gibson already delivered one of the better acting performances in Blood Father this year, now he's directed one of the best films; Gibson is just plain unstoppable. I would give Hacksaw Ridge a 9/10.

This is a film about war that you don't really get all that often, we see the horror and pain that comes with a war film but there's this inspired story about morality and staying true to your beliefs at the heart of it. The protagonist of Desmond Doss is a refreshing character, what he believes and how he feels is always quite simple and straightforward but the rigors he must go through to stay true to his sense of self is nothing short of extraordinary. Yet it is ultimately still a film that depicts war brutally, you will see some unspeakable sights throughout the second half of the feature, providing a very realistic and desperate depiction of war and battle. The cinematography really sets this feature apart as a war epic, the camera often snapping quickly between wide shots of carnage and explosions. The editing moves at a great pace, keeping scenes moving when the action is quiet and then racing when bullets and bodies are flying. The score for this film is really nice, I'd say it isn't used heaps but when it does hit it really adds so much to the scene.

Darcy Bryce and Roman Guerriero, who played Young Desmond and Young 'Hal' Doss respectively, really introduce us to the backstory aspect of the film in the best way; these two kids are so charismatic onscreen and share some tremendous chemistry with one another. Hugo Weaving, who played Tom Doss, crafts a very intriguing tortured soul in this film; Weaving's incredible portrayal of survivor's guilt is only topped by the scenes in which he rises above this crippling mental ailment to aid aid his son. Rachel Griffiths, who played Bertha Doss, is such a sweet and compassionate character; Griffiths is quick to establish her role as the backbone of the Doss family. Teresa Palmer, who played Dorothy Schutte, is one hellfire of a female lead; this is a stand out performance from Palmer who shares some beautiful chemistry with Garfield onscreen. Luke Bracey, who played Smitty Ryker, is the real macho wartime champion a film like this demands; I enjoyed the rivalry between Garfield and Bracey that turned to friendship in the end. Sam Worthington, who played Captain Glover, was quite a stern commanding presence in this film; I enjoyed how humbled we see Worthington by the end of the film - I felt that was great character progression. Richard Roxburgh, who played Colonel Stelzer, is a very reserved psychiatric evaluator; this is a brief appearance in the supporting cast but his open questioning of Garfield brought out a very genuine and heartfelt scene. Philip Quast, who played the Judge, guided what was one of the better scenes of the film; Quast's tough exterior really set the tone of the trial scene while also allowing for ambiguity as to the ultimate outcome.

However the best performance came from Andrew Garfield, who played Desmond Doss. It does me some good to see Garfield back in another incredible leading role, he can bring such gravitas to roles that seem humble and modest. When we're first introduced to Doss it's hard not to be charmed by his bumbling social skills and his tendency to dive headfirst into helping others. As the film goes forth we see one of Garfield's talents is his capacity to engage with and form bonds with members of the cast, some of his best scenes are due to his natural chemistry with Palmer, Weaving, Griffiths, Worthington and Bracey. I truly felt for this character as time and time again we see his beliefs tested, most inspiring about it all is how he always manages to surmount these trials laid before him. After this film I think it's fair to say that Garfield has reminded us all that heroes aren't necessarily fighters, some of the best heroes are healers.

The start of the film lingers for a long time upon Doss romancing Dorothy, Doss' home life and his military training; while I enjoyed these scenes and would say the film paces itself well I would also note that this first hour and a bit has a tendency to be slow and repetitive. Cutting a few scenes down would have made this film flow a little smoother. I also felt there were some racist overtones or poor racial treatment in the film that took away from some scenes, Vaughn's barbs at various cultures weren't funny so much as they fell flat and if Gibson was going to put any focus on the Japanese forces then maybe he should have had that perspective a bit more constant rather than showing some officers just killing themselves at the end of the feature.

Richard Pyros, Jacob Warner, Milo Gibson, Firass Dirani, Michael Sheasby, Luke Pegler, Ben Mingay, Nico Cortez and Goran D. Kleut, who played Teach, James Pinnick, Lucky Ford, Vito Rinnelli, Tex Lewis, Hollywood Zane, Grease Nolan, Wal Kirzinski and Ghoul respectively, were let down by this film's tendency to dismiss the supporting cast as a faceless military ensemble; at times it was hard to tell all these characters apart and it's near impossible to know who was still alive and who was dead by the end of the film. Nathaniel Buzolic, who played Harold 'Hal' Doss, was really a lot of wasted potential; you never get the chance to see Garfield and Buzolic interact enough as brothers to care about their relationship. Vince Vaughn, who played Sgt. Howell, was all over the place in his performance; Vaughn struggled to play the gruff exterior of a military officer nor was he particularly funny or even able to present an effective mentor figure - he was just out of place. Robert Morgan, who played Colonel Sangston, is an antagonist midway through the film who literally comes out of nowhere; his animosity towards Garfield's role is nothing we haven't seen already and feels a bit much at this point. Ori Pfeffer, who played Irv Schecter, gave quite a dry performance the minute he entered onscreen; the addition of this war-ravaged medic felt like the plot was getting a bit over the top in drumming in it's message about the brutality of war. Matt Nable, who played Lt. Colonel Cooney, was yet another leading military figure introduced far too late into the film to be relevant; Nable was only really present as someone for Worthington to bounce dialogue off of.