In Review: Hacksaw Ridge is 'gruesome, gritty and slickly made' says our Reel Reviewer

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

3/5 Good worth watching


Synopsis

Set during World War II, Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a devoted Seventh Day Adventist, wants nothing more than to serve his country as a medic, despite being morally against using or even holding a gun. Despite resistance from the military and a court martial hearing, he fulfils this aim.

During one mission, he stays behind when the Japanese forces advance on his squadron and single-handedly rescues more than 70 men.
Review by https://twitter.com/Reelreviewer

Although it won't win many awards for new and interesting types of supporting characters, situations and dialogue (although, what war film has?) director Mel Gibson's directing comeback is a gruesome, gritty and slickly made movie anyway.

Garfield, despite the Forrest Gump accent, acquits himself as the real-life hero who proved you don't need a gun in your hand to be a man on the battlefield. His wholesome, jocular, narrow-eyed innocence proves the perfect counterbalance to the horror those eyes will witness.

Despite the lack of new and unsurprising things for the rest of the cast, Vince Vaughan is bang on target as Garfield's Drill Sergeant, who might be more at home on the stand-up circuit.

10 years on since Gibson's last stint behind the camera, he hasn't lost his sure and steady hand with stomach-gamboling action sequences but, despite his skill in making them, this feels like merely average stuff. For more, read the full review here