Murtada here. Brace yourselves, Mel Gibson might be trying a comeback. He appeared this past spring at Cannes with Blood Father, a violent revenge thriller that may be released later this year. And now a decade after Apocalypto (2006), we get the trailer for his next directing effort, Hacksaw Ridge. The film is based on the real life story of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector medic who served in the Battle of Okinawa, refusing to take a gun and going on to save many lives.
A Venice out of competition slot, a November release date in the heart of fall season, a respected albeit young leading man (Andrew Garfield) playing a real life hero from WW2. A lot of signs indicating that this might be a major 2016 release. Are we ready to start seeing magazine cover stories about Gibson’s redemption? Before all that, let’s examine the trailer after the jump......
Yes
“With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it don’t seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together”
- This is a sentiment that fits right into this turbulent and very violent year. If Gibson can turn that into a vivid cinematic experience, he would hit gold.
- Garfield is a TFE cause celebre to get his mojo back. With complete silence on Silence, this might be his better chance to get back to the ranks of leading men we care about.
- Braveheart (1995) is not a good film, but Gibson proved his facility with big violent battle scenes; this war story fits well with that aesthetic.
No
You better come home to me
- The trope of the “love of a good woman”seems to be Teresa Palmer’s role. Is there more?
- Where is Rachel Griffiths? Why isn’t she in the trailer? Is she just “mom”?
- There's a lot of earnestness in the dialogue which is the antithesis of good drama.
Maybe so
While everybody else is taking life, I'm gonna be saving it
- Would this movie about faith work for some of us atheists? With Gibson at the helm I have many doubts.
- The film was shot in Gibson’s homeland, Australia, so we understand why Hugo Weaving and Griffiths were cast. But Sam Worthington, really? Hasn’t he become the punchline for once promising but now stalled careers?
- Same goes for Vince Vaughn. Kudos to the casting director who obviously believes in giving people another chance.
Here is the trailer:
I’m maybe so because I want the Garfield of Never Let Me Go (2010) back on the big screen. However I could do without ever seeing another Gibson film. Where do you stand on Hacksaw Ridge?