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Mel Gibson's faith-based 'Hacksaw Ridge' fueled by rage, violence

Mel Gibson fuels his uncompromising, fact-based World War II saga "Hacksaw Ridge" with rage and violence.

His raw depictions of war's carnage shove the horrors of war into our faces.

Heads evaporate in crimson mist.

Soldiers in shock gaze at the gushing stumps where their legs once were.

Flame throwers generate fatal infernos with burning soldiers writhing in poetic slow motion.

Gibson uses the artfully cruel and graphic backdrop of hell on earth to tell the incredible story of a human angel whose spiritual convictions set him at odds with American war-time attitudes.

Erstwhile Spider-Man Andrew Garfield plays Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for pulling 75 wounded soldiers to safety during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa. A few were Japanese.

"Hacksaw Ridge" delves into the events that prompted young Doss to swear an oath to God that he would never touch a gun.

As a little boy in Virginia, Desmond gets into a scuffle and nearly kills his brother Hal by smacking him with a brick.

The act traumatizes Desmond, but not as much as the night he almost shoots his drunkard, World War I veteran dad ("Matrix" star Hugo Weaving) for abusing his mom (Rachel Griffiths).

That becomes the tipping point for Desmond Doss' moral code as a devoted Seventh-day Adventist. He knows he's capable of killing. His Bible commands him not to.

One day, Desmond prophetically saves a man by using his belt as a tourniquet. This changes Desmond's life in two ways: He meets a nurse named Dorothy (chameleonic sparkler Teresa Palmer) and marries her; he realizes he wants to be a doctor and help people.

When brother Hal (now played by Nathaniel Buzolic) signs up to fight the Axis powers, Desmond realizes he must do his patriotic duty and joins the military. But only as a medic. He won't kill.

The boot camp segment of "Hacksaw Ridge" marks the weakest link in Gibson's fiercely emotional and gut-twisting patriotic parable.

Former Buffalo Grove and Lake Forest resident Vince Vaughn plays Sgt. Howell, who growls, fumes and humiliates his troops in the grand but conventional tradition of Hollywood drill sergeants.

Captain Glover (Sam Worthington in a throwaway role) regards Desmond as a coward and wants him out. Howell encourages the recruits, especially a bully named Smitty (Luke Bracey), to force him to quit.

Desmond doesn't quit.

The obligatory scene in which the recruits (and Howell) suddenly side with Desmond occurs way too quickly. It feels forced, and almost derails the narrative, written by Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight.

On to Okinawa, where American soldiers scale a sheer wall of rock to fight Japanese forces at the top.

Here is where the controversial Gibson, directing his first film since 2006's "Apocalypto," hits his stride with a grueling, hard-R-rated military assault capturing the terror, fear and disorientation on the battlefield.

Gibson overdoses on fights and rats dining on corpses, but these are niggling points in a muscular movie celebrating faith and conviction, much like Gibson's R-rated "The Passion of the Christ."

Garfield, in a fiercely committed performance, projects a mix of unwavering principal and emotional vulnerability.

With Garfield's stellar turn, Gibson creates an ultimate Christian faith-based drama, one more powerful, meaningful and visceral than most of the regular, sermonizing, faith-based movies combined.

“Hacksaw Ridge”

   ½

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths

Directed by: Mel Gibson

Other: A Summit Entertainment release. Rated R for extreme violence. 131 minutes

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