85% on Rotten Tomatoes
Chloe's thoughts: Signed, sealed, and recommended by Chloe; Watch it in cinemas
Watch it if you: Like war dramas; Want war scenes akin to Saving Private Ryan; Don't mind very brutal and gruesome violence in the name of war
Directed by Mel Gibosn, Hacksaw Ridge tells the true story about Desmond Doss, a combat medic in World War II who refused to handle a gun, yet managed to become a hero of the war, being the first conscientious objector to win a Medal of Honor.
Ah, Mel Gibson. Terrible human being, but great director (just look at Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto). And once again, he has made a great film.
It's a long one, at 2 hours and 19 minutes, and I think the first act really should have been cut down, because it felt too slow and irrelevantly dragged out. I understand that it helped to develop Doss' character, and it was necessary, but I think it was just too long for it.
However, the great thing about this film is the final act, once they head straight into the battle. The film actually picks up way before this, when Doss first enlists, but in that last act, my goodness, the film just goes all out, and the impact of everything hits you HARD. The entire last act is a crazy, action-packed and adrenaline-fuelled sequence, that I couldn't help but think of Saving Private Ryan.
Mel Gibson truly did a great job at showing us the gruesome and tragic nature of war, more so than other war films, so that we could understand the protagonists ideals and values against holding a gun, and we are able to respect his decision for it.
Apart from this last act, another great factor of this film is the acting capacity here.
There were seriously great performances all around, both from the main characters and the supporting ones.
I honestly did not realise that the entire cast consisted of Australian actors just feigning American accents. All except Vince Vaugh, an American, and Andrew Garfield, a British native. I really applaud Gibson on this, as well as those supporting casts. My particular favourite of the supporting cast was Luke Bracey; dang he is one handsome fella!
Andrew Garfield as Doss was amazing, and he looks to be a strong contender for Best Actor at the Academy Awards. He is such a goofball, though; he is like the quintessential awkward dork, but it's so pleasant here because he is a goofball of just charm and optimism, even in the face of war and almost certain death.
Also, even though Doss' ideals mainly stem from his religion, I don't think that this was a very religious film. At times it might have seemed a bit over-the-top, but I don't think it really beat you over the head with a Bible; it was more just emphasising how important Christianity was to the protagonist. And to audiences, we see this as being more to do with his spirit, hope and optimism, as opposed to his religiosity.
Hugo Weaving was another great supporting actor. Man, he portrayed such an emotional and traumatised character, some times you even forgot that this is the same guy who played Elrond and Agent Smith! He completely disappeared and was so believable. There is one particular scene where you just know that it will be played when his name is called out as a nominated Best Supporting Actor. And I have to say, most of the times that I teared up were because of Weaving's performance. He truly carried all of the scenes that he was in.
Lastly, I have to give a mention to Vince Vaughn. Even though he was in The Lost World, it's easy to forget that he's actually a good actor when he's not playing a stupid character. Honestly, he was great in this and while he took on a serious role in a serious movie, he managed to pull it off while still being the funniest character in the film! Please do more films like this, Vaughn, please.
So all in all, I am very happy that I saw this film. The first third is really slow and dragged on quite a bit, but trust me it'll be worth it when the shock of the second half hits you. If you like the Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan, you will love the last act of this film. It's great to watch on the big screen because of the immersive experience of seeing and hearing the chaos of everything.
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