Review #1,158: 'Hacksaw Ridge' (2016)

Whatever your opinion is of Mel Gibson, the once-Hollywood A-lister turned exile following that infamous drunken rant at the police back in 2006, it's unlikely that any other living director could have told the tender and bloody story of World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient Desmond Doss with quite the same mixture of visceral horror and religious bent. There have been a myriad of movies recounting the acts of heroism and barbarism that occurred during the conflict, but most fail to stand out or tell their tale in a way that is unique. Gibson has defied his (understandable) haters and crafted a fine piece of work, and a story that will no doubt be compared to the actor/director's own personal plight.

Essentially a movie of two parts, both in terms of tone and quality, screenwriters Robert Schenkkan (HBO's The Pacific) and Andrew Knight (The Water Diviner) take the conventional biopic route by going way back to Doss's childhood living with his mother (Rachel Griffiths) and abusive, alcoholic father (Hugo Weaving) in Virginia. He is raised a Seventh-day Adventist and works in the local church, and as he eventually grows into Andrew Garfield, starts to romance the pretty girl who will later become his wife, Dorothy (Teresa Palmer). These early scenes have a corny gloss to them, like watching a big-budget Lifetime movie with a slightly better script. While the incredibly cute romance between the couple is beautifully played by the two main leads, the movie doesn't really get going until Doss follows his brother in volunteering to fight against the Japanese.

Undeterred by his restrictive religious beliefs, which forbid him to even touch a gun, Doss hopes to do his part by working as a medic. He first must go through boot camp, where he quickly finds himself in hot water with his drill instructor Sgt. Howell (Vince Vaughn) and Captain Glover (Sam Worthington) when revealing himself to be a conscientious objector. Rejecting a ticket home by way of psychiatric discharge, Doss becomes an outcast in his unit and is bullied by his fellow recruits. A stint in army jail and a trial ensues before Doss is eventually allowed to rejoin his squad before they are shipped off to the Pacific. It is during the Battle of Okinawa, and more specifically the mission to secure Maeda Escarpment - nicknamed 'Hacksaw Ridge' - that Doss will prove his worth, while the unrelenting horror of war explodes around him.

Anyone familiar with Gibson's previous work will know what to expect: No punches are pulled in the truly horrific battle scene, which lasts for pretty much the entire second half. Doss rushes somewhat elegantly through exploding heads and young men holding their own guts, as a seemingly endless wave of Japanese screamers lunge at them with rifles and swords. To call this the most disturbing depiction of war would be untrue (Elem Klimov's Come and See will forever hold that title), but it's damn near close. Though the splatter is relentless, it also manages to wear you down psychologically, so you can almost feel the weight of every bullet-ridden body Doss manages to drag to safety. Garfield is terrific, managing to charm with a near-permanent goofy grin that makes it seem like Doss knows and is comfortable with exactly what life expects of him. Somewhat surprisingly, so is Vaughn, who injects what I expected would be a cliched boot camp montage with some laugh-out-loud humour. Bravo then, and welcome back Mel (haven't we forgiven actors for much worse?).


Directed by: Mel Gibson
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey, Hugo Weaving, Sam Worthington, Vince Vaughn, Rachel Griffiths
Country: Australia/USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,154: 'The Wolfman' (2010)

To say that The Wolfman had a troublesome journey from page to screen would be an understatement, with director-swaps, re-shoots and a release date that kept getting pushed back plaguing the production of Universal's attempt to reboot one of the horror franchises they laid their foundations with back in the 1930s and 40s. The cracks and desperate stitching together are plain to see in the resulting movie, which limped into cinemas only to quickly disappear from memory. One part an earnest attempt to bring an age-old tale to modern audiences with a heavy tip-of-the-hat to the Lon Chaney original, and one part a bungled and rushed attempt to blend a serious psychological study with gruesome mainstream thrills, screenwriters Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en) and David Self (Road to Perdition) must have been wondering where their hard work went.

Shakespearean actor Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) leaves the comforts of London life for his childhood home of Blackmoor after he learns of the disappearance of his brother Ben (Simon Merrells). There waiting for him is his father Sir John (Anthony Hopkins), who greets his wayward son in typical horror fashion, from the top of the dark staircase of his once-spectacular mansion. When Ben shows up dead and apparently mangled by some vicious beast, Lawrence consoles his brother's beautiful fiancee Gwen (Emily Blunt). During an attack on the village by a bloodthirsty werewolf, Lawrence is bitten and is cursed to transform into a murderous monster every full moon. Faced with his developing fondness for Gwen and his uncontrollable, animalistic urges, Lawrence is forced to confront the beast within, as Scotland Yard Inspector Aberline (Hugo Weaving) is called in as the body count rises.

Given my love for the old Universal horror movies, I appreciated The Wolfman's respect for the original and the occasional success in bringing those foggy English moors to life again. The film also thrives during the few brutal attacks, with no punches being pulled in the gore stakes as spines are raked and limbs go flying. Sadly, this is just about all Joe Johnston's movie has going for it, and the director shapes the film with the same lack of singular vision that plagued Jurassic Park III (2001) and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). One moment it is rushing to deliver the CGI-fuelled thrills to the undemanding audience, and the next it is brooding and deep, or delivering a confusing moment of exposition in what becomes an unnecessarily complicated plot. I don't recall the likes of Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi stumbling their way through a convoluted story for 2 long hours, so why would it be needed here?


Directed by: Joe Johnston
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving
Country: USA

Rating: **

Tom Gillespie

Review #184: 'Captain America: The First Avenger' (2011)

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is desperate to get into the army and help his countrymen fight in World War II. The only problem is that he's short, skinny, and has a list of medical conditions longer than his arm. In his umpteenth attempt at enlisting, Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) sees Rogers' passion and help enlist him in a research project to build a super soldier. Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) doubts him, yet when Rogers dives on a loose de-activated grenade to save his group, he is convinced. Along with Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Erskine doses Rogers with a special serum that turns him into a muscled, near-invisible super soldier, and he becomes Captain America - at first a frontman to sell bonds, but when his friend needs to be rescued, he becomes a superhero. Meanwhile in Europe, psychotic Nazi Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) is harnessing a power that may help him rule the world.

The Marvel films of late seem to fit into two categories - either very good, and passable. This, unfortunately, falls into the latter category. The passable Marvel films (X-Men: First Class (2011), The Incredible Hulk (2008)) have been relatively pedestrian yet have the uncanny ability to be irresistibly likeable and undeniably entertaining. Captain America was one I was expecting to be on the level of Iron Man (2008) and Thor (2011), both of which are very good. But it is overlong, has poorly developed supporting characters, and a one-dimensional bad-guy. But Chris Evans and the fact that this is a teasing final link into the film that we're all really waiting for, helps raise the film up a few notches.

I'll start with the bad. Firstly, the action scenes, compared to even the lesser Marvel films, don't really add up to that much. I mean, this is a superhero fighting Nazis, and we all love seeing a Nazi getting smashed - but the big and loud action scenes are surprisingly dull. There's nothing to compare to the Frost Giants fight in Thor, or the Circuit du Monaco attack in Iron Man 2 (2010), or seeing The Incredible Hulk getting angry. And Cap's whole superhero persona just isn't that good - he's just really hard and can throw a shield rather well. He can't fly, doesn't have a hammer of near-limitless abilities, and can't turn massive and green.

Sadly wasted are Tommy Lee Jones and Weaving. Given a role he can sleep-walk through, Jones just doesn't seem to be making the effort, and delivers his few comic lines with a can't-be-arsed look on his face. Weaving chews on his lines with relish and is near-faultless as Schmidt, who later becomes The Red Skull. It's just a shame that Schmidt is basically there to do no more than give Cap something to fight against. After Tom Hiddleston as Loki in Thor, who was if anything a lot more interesting than his blonde-haired brother, brought emotional torment and raging jealousy into his multi-dimensional character. Maybe I'm comparing it too much to the other Marvel films, but knowing that it's all building to The Avengers (due in 2012), it's difficult not to see it as one huge film.

But while Captain America the superhero may be a little full, Steve Rogers isn't. Seeing him transform from a skinny weakling who will get straight up after a beating to become a giant of a man over-awed by his new strength, is a great reason to finally root for the little guy. The nodding winks to the comic book nerds and the links to the other films provide lots to smile at, especially in Tony Stark's father Howard, who as well being an entertaining character, is played well by Dominic Cooper (though not the level of Robert Downey Jr.) who is an actor I've never really taken to in the past . And it's nice to finally have a strong love interest in Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) after the blandness of Natalie Portman in Thor. As well as the obvious attractiveness, Peggy is a character that can kick some arse as well. Overall, it's a worthy entry into the epic franchise, and a nice final character film before it all really kicks off.


Directed by: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Dominic Cooper, Sebastian Stan, Toby Jones, Stanley Tucci, Samuel L. Jackson
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie