It's everything you thought it would be. A typically simple yet visceral exhibition from Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge is the feel-good war movie of the year. If you didn't know, the film concerns Desmond Doss, the conscientious objector to WWII who served in the hellish Battle of Okinawa as a medic. Doss was later awarded the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of over 75 men on the titular battleground. Gibson has a way about him that works in his favor here. Whereas, say, Clint Eastwood has a specific target audience that he understands and caters to, Gibson (despite his personal faults) manages to create sweeping epics that can touch everybody.
Can. The film doesn't portray the Japanese in a very humane light, which is problematic but also not surprising in a war movie. Unexpectedly irritating to me in this film is Gibson's lack of subtlety or complexity. While there is a lovely focus on a unique and fascinating character in Doss, the film is little more than formulaic, even droll. Brightly lit and generally clean, the first half of the film feels like a Hallmark special. The septic hue alters somewhat as Doss finally approaches the battlefield in the second half, but the grit and detailed atmosphere of, say, Apocalypto, is gone. What we have instead is a sickly sweet sentimentality, one that marries religion and love to a sweet, handsome boy who just wants to piece together a broken world.
But that's less a problem for me than a mild irritant. Honestly, I love that a war film can so beautifully talk about what's really on its mind. I love that the hero is a pacifist. I love that he's pure and kind and humble. I love that he lives what he practices in seemingly impossible situations. I find comfort in the film's obnoxious ability to play my heartstrings so easily. Andrew Garfield is pitch-perfect as our hero, no question there. The surprise for me is in Vince Vaughn, whose Sergeant Howell is fierce and surprisingly hilarious. His introductory scene of meeting his new recruits steals the film away, and had me guffawing outright in the packed theater. Everybody else plays their part fittingly. Hugo Weaving has a few really nice moments as Doss's tormented father.
Perhaps I find comfort in the picture's sentimentality because of the centerpiece of the film. The Battle of Okinawa atop Hacksaw Ridge is one of the most brutal scenes I've ever seen on the big screen. Sure, I haven't seen Hostel yet, but a war picture hasn't been this violent since Fury, maybe even Saving Private Ryan. It's almost like these scenes were the only ones in the clean, sparkling picture directed by the vision behind Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ. The body horror and graphic gore of those pictures is in full display here, and the lengthy sequences of fast-paced action and bloodshed is challenging to watch, to say the least.
IMDb: Hacksaw Ridge
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