Review- Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is the new film from Hollywood's favourite ex-racist, ex-sexist and ex-crazy actor turned director Mel Gibson and makes a compelling case for separating the artist from the art. It's the story of Desmond Doss, an American who wants to help in the Second World War but due to his religious beliefs he won't touch a gun. Instead, determined to help his country, he becomes a field medic and saves the men in his infantry. The film is essentially split into two halves, the first is a Full Metal Jacket type training course where he prepares for action and has to fight for his beliefs, the second being the battle at the eponymous Hacksaw Ridge. This should create a disjointed film but each half actually serves to compliment the other beautiuflly. From a story perspective, I cannot fault this film at all. In fact, I can't fault it in many more ways.

In regards to acting, I expected to only praise Andrew Garfield but I find myself having to praise pretty much the entire cast. The weakest spot is Vince Vaughn who, while not bad, seems to have watched Full Metal Jacket before each scene and gone "yeah, I wanna do that". Actually, there are a few exceptions, later on in the film where his acting was great but I think that speaks to the quality of the other actors. Sam Worthington (Jake Sulley from Avatar) gives the first good performance I've ever seen from him and Luke Bracey, whose biggest claim to fame so far is defiling the good name of Point Break, also gives a great performance. Really, all of the men who get shoved on to the frontline give great performances, from the extras to the characters who actually get names. Back away from the war, Theresa Palmer plays basically the sole female character in the film and while she isn't given much to do, she does her bit well. Easily the best supporting performance though is Hugo Weaving. This is a man who really knows how to act and deliver the big moments alongside the little subtle touches and it shows in every scene he's in. As I've already stated though, Andrew Garfield is the main draw here and he is phenomenal. So good is his performance that I never for once thought of him as either the guy from The Social Network or the hotter Spiderman, I just saw his character. This is a man who really had to fight for what he believed and it was rarely easy but through Garfield, we are able to emphasise. We look at this character and we really understand why he does what he does.

I mentioned earlier that the film is split into two parts, a training/set up section and a proper, brutal war sequence. The first half is fantastic and I was worried that the second half wouldn't live up to it. I haven't been so wrong in a hell of a long time. I don''t have a comprehensive knowledge of war movies but this has some of the single most impressive battle scenes I have ever seen. The visuals and the sound combine to make an experience that is terrifying and I highly recommend everyone see this film in a cinema with a proper speaker system and huge screen. Equally impressive, despite there being a lot of gunfire, it has the same thing that Hell or High Water did where every single bullet matters. Characters can die very quickly and each shot you hear is jarring. Fair warning though, this is a very violent film. Even in the earlier scenes, don't expect to be spared from some extreme close ups of some really nasty injuries. The squeamish need not apply for this film but it's their loss.

As I sit here and think about the film, I am genuinely struggling for complaints. There are a few obvious moments of green screen and Vince Vaughn occasionally feels a bit wooden but those aren't deal breakers. What you're getting with this film is an intense study of a man who comes under fire in the metaphorical and literal sense and shows no fear in the face of either. The weirdest thing is that I'm not a big fan of either preachy religious dramas or films that celebrate gung-ho American exceptionalism. This film is both and somehow I still love it, that's how good it is. I am delighted that I already have another film this year that I love as much as La La Land and, after much consideration, I have no choice but to give yet another film this year the perfect score of