I was a bit uneasy at first taking into consideration how I feel towards Mel Gibbons as a filmmaker. However, none of these biases were too much of a nuisance with regards to Hacksaw Ridge. There are specific issues that some will point out, but it is important to note that these problems are not as palpable and it is around that point that I feel Hacksaw Ridge should have remained. There are many other things that are very fascinating within this biopic centered on WWII, and despite this fact, it is so unfortunate that it has itself, moved out without leaving any qualms. On the other hand, Mel Gibson has got my hopes up for what is set to come in the near future and so has Hacksaw Ridge in my opinion. It does indeed have a plethora of qualities that any war film has, and perhaps at that point in time, that is all that was needed to get by.
Andrew Garfield plays the role of Pacifist Desmond Doss, who was the only conscientious objector in WWII to earn a Medal of Honor WWII. Through Hacksaw Ridge, we see how he starts saving many men during the battle of Okinawa, including his romantic nurse Dorothy Schutte. It is evident from the first scene of Hacksaw Ridge that Mel Gibson wants the audience to have a detailed understanding of Doss and his background to determine why he made the choices he did in the war, but there is a fine line where it completely misses the mark of the effect that it intended to have.
While by no means bad, Gibson’s attempts to capture the romance between Doss and Schutte are misguided at best. At times, their banter is borderline cheesy, but it is tolerable thanks to the talent on display by Andrew Garfield and Teresa Palmer. The film suffers greatly as a result, though, because a significant portion of it feels poorly conceived and too much seems to happen in an unreasonably short span of time. I accept that Gibson was trying to create something more complex with what transformed Doss into the man he was during the war, especially with the religious strands that, thankfully, are never force-fed to the audience like so many other faith-narratives. This romance, though, barely registers at all because to be blunt, it is extremely uninteresting, then just fades away.
However, the moment in which it starts moving away is where the film truly starts improving for the better. It is already clear by now how Doss’s faith comes forth for him during challenges, and, during training, it finds a sense of wanting to become something looser, something that covers Doss’s transformation in terms of loosening the safe straits of his life or, at least how it superficially, seems and then out to the battlefield and works for the better.
The war sequences are among the best directed scenes of the entire film, capturing a clear sense of grit that gives Hacksaw Ridge the impact that it bears. At that point he managed to offset Gibson’s weaknesses with his overwrought romantic melodramatic business that had ravenously devoured the first section, for it never evidently has the vanity that accompanies the nature of its violence. Perhaps not in a universal Thin Red Line-ensue way, but an attempt that is still worthy of note for well-intentioned consideration.
The best part about Garfield’s performance in Hacksaw Ridge would be his approach to the character Desmond Doss. One can grasp a sense of dignity and respect with his fear combined with his conviction as he journeys throughout the character all the way along. To the film, Hugo Weaving gives a supporting performance as Desmond’s father, who plays a crucial part in shaping Desmond’s character, giving Rachel Griffiths’s performance as Desmond’s mother to work against. Not all performances work that well, though, since I did have trouble believing in Vaughn at first. Him and Sam Worthington did manage to win me over when they were on the battlefield. Gibson is always captures what he needs from those people that seem so unconvincing in first appearances.
Maybe this is the finest depiction of war on film in ages, but even then, there some elements which seriously hinder the overall experience. Regardless, the energy spent trying to achieve the desired level of success was commendable for what it was and it was especially so with respect to Andrew Garfield’s hard work as Desmond. Unapologetically gritty and human, Hacksaw Ridge is a film with many good intentions, and under Gibson’s watch, does everything it needs to do. As a war drama depicting the courage of the battle of humanity, it does work well. But as a romantic melodrama, it’s neither here nor there, even if it is somehow lacking in being overly invasive just a little bit dull.
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