After its premiere at Venice Film Festival, director Mel Gibson’s WWII true story drama Hacksaw Ridge has prepped the hype train fuelled by critical praise. The film stars Andrew Garfield as a real-life soldier who refused to fire a bullet. choosing to enter the battlefield without a weapon. Despite an onslaught of ridicule, he saved the lives of 75 men.
“It immerses you in the violent madness of war,” says Variety, “and, at the same time, it roots its drama in the impeccable valor of a man who, by his own grace, refuses to have anything to do with war.” (read the full review)
The Hollywood Reporter adds: “[Gibson] proves himself a muscular storyteller who knows exactly how to raise a pulse, heighten emotion and build intensity to explosive peaks.” (read the full review)
The Guardian acknowledges “as repellent a figure as many may still find Gibson, I have to report he’s absolutely hit Hacksaw Ridge out of the park.” (read the full review)
While most are in praise of the film, The Playlist had ethical concerns: “This tale of real-life heroism seems less a celebration of humanist convictions than a glorification of religious intransigence and a declaration of the moral superiority of the faithful over the faithless.” (read the full review)
Hacksaw Ridge is playing in cinemas nationwide from 3rd November
