9. Hacksaw Ridge

As you may already know, I do love a film based on a true story. I'd seen the advert for Hacksaw Ridge, and thought it looked interesting, but war and fighting and armies and what-not are not my favourite. However, this story follows a pacifist who joins the army, so from the offset I'm liking the morals!

The story follows Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), as he joins the army to become a medic. To gain this qualification, he needs to pass all his basic training, including shooting with a rifle. This task is particularly difficult for Doss, as he refuses to touch a gun. The rest of the troop now no longer trust him to save him in the battle field, and he is subject to abuse. Alongside this, Doss is planning a marriage to Dorothy (Teresa Palmer) so you could say he'd got a lot on.

I found the story interesting, although cheesy in parts, and liked the fact that it drew on the parts of Doss' (Andrew Garfield) childhood, and found the flashbacks really effective in the storytelling, and in empathising with the character. I also really loved the humour in the film, Vince Vaughn is hilarious as Sergeant Howell, and there were lots of 'laugh out loud' moments in the film which I wasn't expecting. At the end, we see some real life footage, and illustrating that there was jokes and fun, even in such a bleak situation, which I found heartwarming.

Up to here, it all sounds glowing, and that's to be assumed as this is another of our Oscar nominated films. However, there were some bits about this film that weren't for me. At one point there is a battle scene for about 20 minutes with no particular plot, and there isn't even an interesting tactic which either side of the war are using. It's just a scene of fighting and gruesome gore, but neither of those things excite me. In my head, I'm very aware that the gore is all fake, so no matter how realistic it is, I'm quite desensitised.  In fact, I flinched more in an earlier scene where Doss was having his blood taken (and I give blood myself!). I also find fighting and violence really boring, so it was not the one for me. In a later battle scene, it was really exciting and there was a real threat and use of intelligence and innovation to evade the enemy, which I did enjoy, but I feel like the first scene was unnecessary. However I do get that that is something people enjoy, so if you're into all that, you'll like it.

The other thing I didn't like about this film was the length. I felt like I'd been sat in my chair for days and I think the story could be told just as effectively in 1hr 50, as opposed to 2hr 20. We're almost getting into Wolf of Wall Street territory (although I did love that film).

Overall, I enjoyed Hacksaw Ridge, but I wouldn't be throwing it any Oscars. The romance was cheesy, the violence was mindless, but there was a good and interesting story buried beneath it all. I'd give it a 7/10, but if you're into war and battles and fighting, you'll probably love it.