Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

This film was divided into two parts each one could have been its own separate film.
Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) almost killed his younger brother, Hal (Nathaniel Buzolic) and vows never to harm another life again. But then World War II happens and he is called to serve, despite his job at a defense plant (which is never shown). He will serve as a medic, saving lives instead of taking them. This causes a whole lot of problems in his unit, his fellow soldiers beat the crap out of him but he does not turn them in and even his Sergeant (Vince Vaughan, pretty good) wants him to leave, yet nothing will make him leave or touch a gun. He is almost court-marshaled, but fortunately, for the first time in his life, his father (Hugo Weaving) comes through for him and the charges are dropped.
The second half fast forwards about three years, after his wedding night with the nurse Dorothy (Teresa Palmer) to the battle that would make Desmond famous, the Battle of Okinawa, a brutal hour of gore and blood. The battle is nasty, with plenty of killings on both sides and bombs, stabbings and split throats, with bodies laying everywhere. Desmond may not be carrying a weapon but he gives up on no one, staying after the ridge is abandoned and lowering the wounded with a rope, injuring his hands after saving so many lives. After he finally gets reinforcements, he collapses with exhaustion.
The following day, the troop returns and takes the ridge, Desmond is wounded but would survive.
Almost old-fashioned in how it was filmed, the first half is more of a love story between Desmond and Dorothy and how he was able to serve only as a medic. Though his father did come through, Tom Doss was an abusive alcoholic, still carrying painful memories of the first world war around with him daily. You don't know until the second half is that Desmond almost killed his father, defending his mother from his father's fist. That was Garfield's best scene.
The second half could have been better if they showed everything solely from Desmond's point of view, as the film's first half centered on him, it would have made sense if the second half did the same.
And I wish they would have better explained what drove Desmond to be so religious and stubborn about his beliefs and what led him to pick up the gun to nearly kill his father. Despite the ending showing the actual people I would have liked that ridiculously romantic Hollywood ending with Desmond coming home to pick up Dorothy and giving her a kiss.
While the performances were good enough, Garfield did not deserve an Oscar nomination for this though he is a great actor, he was far better in The Social Network (also a far better film). Teresa Palmer and Rachel Griffiths (his mother) make the most out of underwritten roles, and Luke Bracey and Sam Worthington are solid as fellow Army-men.
Still, the film has excellent cinematography and the battle scene is well choreographed, and the message is meaningful. The story just needed a gentler hand. Grade: B+