Hacksaw Ridge Movie Review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews

Hacksaw Ridge

So years after his meltdown and totally dropping off the face of the Earth, Mel Gibson has returned for better or for worse to the directors chair, with his latest film, 'Hacksaw Ridge'. The film tells the story of World War 2 medic Desmond Doss, who was famous for saving about 75 wounded soldiers but all without ever carrying a gun. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, Teresa Palmer, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Bracey.

Now WWII films can be used to showcase a lot of things, most commonly acting. And the performances in this movie are one of the most enjoyable parts of Hacksaw Ridge, not only is every actor in this movie fantastic in the part they play, but they're also mostly out of their usual typecast field. Andrew Garfield is better than ever, playing an emotionally complex character with an aspect of likability you don't normally get in WWII film protagonists. Hugo Weaving is as great as always (although that kind of goes without saying), and both Sam Worthington and Teresa Palmer are enjoyable in their roles. The biggest surprise for me here was Vince Vaughn, who showed a side to him in this movie that I honestly didn't know he could pull off, which is always nice to see.

Now I'm sure you've heard about this movie due to it's heavy amounts of graphic violence, and because A: it's kind of a staple of Mel Gibson directed films, and B: it's a WWII movie, the violence shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. However, like pretty much every Mel Gibson movie (especially Passion of the Christ), the violence in this movie can sometimes go a little bit too far, and become borderline pornographic. For this movie in particular, I think it worked towards creating a sense of shock and fear the protagonist was experiencing, but it's one of those things that makes a movie less appealing to certain people who can't handle violence.

Final Rating

Honestly, all in all, I don't feel like there's a ton to talk about here beyond that. Hacksaw Ridge is a really good movie, and if you have the time, I'd say check it out, just keep in mind the movie is incredibly violent.