Hacksaw Ridge – Movie Review

Hacksaw Ridge – R
Release Date: Fri 04 Nov 2016

Mel Gibson directs this true story of World War II medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield,) who manages to serve as an army medic despite his refusal to ever touch or use a gun.

The storytelling here is magnificent. We get to know Desmond as a boy and see events that shape his conviction that killing is always wrong, not just murder. He wants to do his part in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attacks as so many young men of his generation, but he has an uphill political battle just to get past training.

Hacksaw Ridge does not glorify war – it shows it as a destructive and violent misery. While some of the imagery is horrifying and violent, it doesn’t become exploitative either. Everything is in service to the story and how it leads Desmond to go from an outsider to a hero; A conscientious objector who becomes a war hero without firing a single shot. It makes for an exciting and moving movie cementing Gibson’s reputation as a talented director.

Amber, Aaron, Matthew and I saw it in the theater and had a discussion in the car: