I have never been a fan of war films in my life. The only reason why I enjoyed history in high school was because it gave me a decent chance to get some sleep. Hacksaw Ridge, however, shed some very new light on the genre for me, and I can actually say that I enjoyed it just as much as other films. Who would have guessed that this masterpiece of a period film could have been directed by Mel Gibson? Following the fallout of his infamous 2006 rant, Gibson has not seen a lot of work, for obvious reasons. I believe his work on this film has redeemed, at least, his creative qualities in the industry, as I was thoroughly impressed.
There are many parts of this film to love, and the main being that it is not your traditional war film. In the war genre, we typically see the soldier go off to war in the beginning of the film, experience some hardship while on the fighting front, and then return home after his traumatic time to a loving wife and kid that he didn't knew he had. This is typical and expected of a lot of these kinds of films, but Hacksaw Ridge breaks from this norm. The main hero of this film, excellently played by Andrew Garfield, was Desmond Doss, a passionate Christian who refused to handle a gun during his time in WWII. While the drama surrounding that belief played out through the film, the aspect I loved the most was that the actual war did not start until the third act of the movie. Character development was the main focus, and that worked very well for the story that was being told. War was not necessary to show until Doss heroically risked his life to save as many American soldiers as possible, while under siege by the Japanese. Being the conscientious objector that he was, it gave that much more power to this true story, because of his reluctance to use a firearm. Andrew Garfield embodied this role very well, and the story worked well with his character's ultimate goal.
While the character maturation and delaying the war was my favorite part of this movie, I also enjoyed the portrayal of Sergeant Howell by Vince Vaughn. The only actor I knew was part of this project before I saw it was Andrew Garfield, and so seeing Vaughn as a hard-ass military sergeant definitely threw me for a loop. But it ended up being the best loop possible. While Vince Vaughn is definitively known for his comedies such as Wedding Crashers or Dodgeball, he has not been cast in very many dramatic roles, and for good reason. After the crash-and-burn mess that was the Psycho remake of 1998, it makes sense for Vaughn to stick to comedy. However, along with Gibson's redemption into the world of film, I honestly believe that Vaughn was redeemed by his role in this film. He did so well in playing this character, and I was pretty terrified of his confidence at times throughout the film.
In conclusion, while I went into this film very pessimistically, I left feeling very satisfied with this new addition to the war genre. The only negative comment I have would be a personal opinion of mine, which would be the amount of gore shown during the actual war scene. I do not get bothered by blood and disfigurement very easily, but I admit I had to turn away a few times. I understand that that was the hard reality that many had to face during the war, I just would not be able to stomach it. Other than the difficult-to-watch scenes for some viewers, Hacksaw Ridge is a fantastic film with amazing performances and an original story definitely worthy of the Oscars that it won and was nominated for.
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