Hacksaw Ridge

Set during the Second World War (and inspired by true events), Hacksaw Ridge follows Andrew Garfield’s Desmond Doss as he survives basic training to become a combat medic during 1945’s infamous Battle of Okinawa. Filmmaker Mel Gibson has unabashedly infused Hacksaw Ridge with the feel of an old-school war epic, as the movie, particularly in its opening hour, contains virtually all of the tropes and conventions that one has come to expect from stories of this ilk – including the central character’s idealized love affair with a pretty local (Teresa Palmer’s Dorothy Schutte), his struggle to keep morale up during training, etc, etc. Gibson’s emphasis on several such less-than-engrossing elements and subplots ensures that Hacksaw Ridge‘s first act fares surprisingly poorly, and it’s clear that the film doesn’t begin to improve until it arrives at its aforementioned basic-training stretch – with the familiarity of the central character’s exploits there offset by a rather surprising plot twist and, especially, by Vince Vaughn’s completely captivating turn as a tough-as-nails drill sergeant. (Vaughn manages to put his own spin on almost oppressively well-worn territory, to be sure.) From there, Hacksaw Ridge progresses into a battle-heavy second half that’s just as violent and exhilaratingly visceral as one might’ve anticipated – although, in keeping with the film’s established atmosphere of excess, even this portion of the proceedings eventually wears out its welcome. It does, in the end, seem apparent that Hacksaw Ridge could’ve benefited from a much shorter running time, as there just isn’t enough material here to sustain the movie’s overlong and occasionally oppressive 131 minutes – which is a shame, certainly, given that the film boasts an impressive raft of undeniably positive attributes.

**1/2 out of ****