Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is Mel Gibson's war poetry about the true story of Desmond Doss, the soldier who never carried gun in a battle against the Japanese. You take a man who's against killing & throw him into an arena where most killings happen. Boom! A quintessential recipe of dramatic conflict for a motion picture is born!

As a kid who's initially cocky, Desmond Doss, played aesthetically by Andrew Garfield, grows up to be a guy who hates violence after a childhood mishap with his brother. This is further enhanced by the past trauma of his dad. In fact, there is a vital plot point which involves the father's past to help the struggling son. So, there's a purpose for its inclusion. There are 2 aspects of the protagonist that should have been a tad stronger. One would be the reason why he completely despises weapons, which would be the incident where his mum's abused. On papers, this one-liner sounds okay. But on film, the dramatic effect & reasoning should have been strengthened a bit more. The second point would be his sudden step to become an army medic. Just by reading a human anatomy textbook, one can't just become an expert in healing onsite accidents, that too severe ones on battlegrounds. There should have been few establishment scenes dedicated to show how he nurtures his interest through learning & practical applications.

Aside these two, you could understand his firm belief. He is ridiculed, insulted, called a coward, thought of as lunatic, isolated, ragged, coerced to touch a rifle, forced to leave & imprisoned! These are great conflicts for a screenplay, and the harder he's blocked, the more his ideology percolates. He makes us fathom that he is not stubborn. It is not that he doesn't want to cooperate with others. He is simply defending his values from being attacked. He will not be able to live with himself if he doesn't follow his principles. This is a man to be respected! And that is exactly what happens at the end of the film. The way he saves most of the badly wounded men at Hacksaw Ridge is inspiring! It shows you how much he treasures lives. Rough & tall activities like high rock climbing since a kid convinces us of his military compatibility & adaptability too. His one long monologue in the marshal courtroom conveys correct sentiments to his ideology. But there will come a time post the first war, you might discern his sense of responsibility is a little too much.

Since this is a war drama, let's talk about how Gibson tackled it. One word: Good! The warfare is a bloodshed festival! It's brutal, scary & fatal. You should see how the team brought in special effects for the corpses & the scale of the ridge itself! With fire-spitting machines, swarms of enemy's troop, honor killing & bodies blowing off here and there, the campaign sequences are true horror! There's one episode where Desmond hides from an opponent thru underneath a dead fighter which tingles your adrenaline secretion. Instead of just mindless shootings, the script introduces understandable strategies for the audiences to tag along. If you think this is going to be entirely serious, you may be wrong. As a prelude, there are well-written humor at the start of the militia practices. Vince Vaughn as Sergeant Howell is a pleasant surprise. Some of his words such as: "How long have you been dead?" genuinely filled the theater with laughter. Also, watch out for his interactions with the naked private in cabin. As a soft meander, Gibson canned the hardcore & vigorous trainings in a way you'd feel it's fun! Not to forget, Sam Worthington as Captain Jack Glover is also good.

To a certain extent, we would enjoy the romance between Doss & Dorothy (Teresa Palmer). Their interactions are cute & innocent. Dialogues, kisses & proposals are sweet. But, one can't help but wonder why would this B story take priority of the film's time & space in the beginning itself? This is heavily experienced during the initial hospital sequence where Doss saves a man with his belt as tourniquet. This is a moment for him to discover his passion & where his heart at. This should have been left alone for the audiences to feel what he's feeling. Just when he's about to come to the pre-conclusion of saving lives as what he's meant to do, we are intercepted by a female interest and the plot line deviates. We understand that a wife back home will be and is essential for us to care about the protagonist, but most of the scenes that are placed after this are as if providing importance to this particular relationship more than it needs.

The largest flaw in the film is its extended cinematic liberties. You can sense artificialness for the first 5 to 10 minutes before the essence dissipates. The young boys can be seen 'acting'. Hugo Weaving's performance is over the top by a notch. Set pieces & architectures do not gel seamlessly with the background. Hero weaves through a bloody warzone without a weapon like walking through a park & gets no major life-threatening injuries or whatsoever; well this may be excusable a little since he is not at the frontline of battlefield. Love-making & partners patching up scenes are inserted merely to massage in proper pacing to the feature. We are tired of seeing clichéd dream sequences. The runtime should have been snapped way shorter! Tacky visual effects can be seen through the ship cannons. The bullet sound designs are amazing by the way!