Hacksaw Ridge Movie Review

Andrew Garfield stars in Hacksaw Ridge

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Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Hacksaw Ridge is the extraordinary true story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who, in Okinawa during the bloodiest battle of WWII, saved 75 men without firing or carrying a gun. He was the only American soldier in WWII to fight on the front lines without a weapon, as he believed that while the war was justified, killing was nevertheless wrong. As an army medic, he single-handedly evacuated the wounded from behind enemy lines, braved fire while tending to soldiers and was wounded by a grenade and hit by snipers. Doss was the first conscientious objector to ever earn the Congressional Medal of Honor. Directed by Mel Gibson.

Garfield shines as a "conscientious objector cooperator" in Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge, one of the best war movies since Saving Private Ryan. Be warned, parts of it are brutally violent; but the bulk is filled with humor, romance and suspense. Kudos to writers Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan for developing a bonafide story, before giving way to some of the most impressive (yet gruesome) battle sequences ever shot. Garfield's terrific, as is Vince Vaughn "How long have you been dead son?" It slows down a bit towards the end (as Doss slips into Superman mode.) Otherwise, one of the year's best.

Grade: B+