Film Review - Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Hacksaw Ridge is directed by Mel Gibson and tells the true story of Private Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who joins the Army during the Second World War with the desire of becoming a Combat Medic but he simply refuses to pick up a rifle and earns the ire of his commanding officers (Sam Worthington and Vince Vaughn) but he is cleared of those charges and goes to Hacksaw Ridge which if taken can let the Allies advance to Okinawa and potentially end the war.

Hacksaw Ridge is beautifully put together and coming out of it I found it hard not to feel moved by what is a wonderful true story put to the screen beautifully by Gibson and his directing work here is simply the finest I have seen all year, the War footage presented here is simply stunning but also very full on (I even saw a couple of Mad Max nods in 1 or 2 scenes) and his ability to get great performances from actors who have been very hit and miss over the years is also great.

And speaking of those performances first and foremost is Garfield who's redemption is long overdue for the appalling way he was treated during his time as Spider-Man and I really liked him in that role but he did not have any support from the studio or Marc Webb or the writers and when it all fell down the blame was unfairly put on him but here he carries the film effortlessly and Gibson is more than willing to let him off the leash, Teresa Palmer, Worthington, Vaughn, Luke Bracey, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths and Richard Roxbrough are also very good here and both Garfield and Palmer have very nice chemistry.

And so that was Hacksaw Ridge not one of my favourite films of the year but I haven't blamed anyone at all who said that it is as it is a very fine effort that I highly recommend, 4 and a half out of 5.