This weekend marks the official release of Mel Gibson’s new film, Hacksaw Ridge, starring Andrew Garfield. The film tells the story of Desmond Doss, a World War II medic who objects to the violence of war. And in a recent interview with The Washington Post, Gibson talked a little about his use of violence in his films, and also managed to criticize Marvel’s use of violence a bit in the process. These comments were made weeks before this weekend’s box office, so it is not a direct reaction to this weekend’s performance.
Gibson was asked about his graphic use of violence in his most popular films, including Braveheart, Passion of the Christ, and Apocalypto, and how this trend of violence carries over into his new film.
“[The action] almost has to be — I don’t mean to be callous about it — but it has to be like a sporting event,” Gibson explains. “You have to know who’s who, who your protagonists are, who’s doing what, what screen direction it’s all going in. In the midst of that, you have to have what appears to be chaos. It’s ordered chaos.
“I’m trying to get to your animal. That’s it. That’s war. I’m trying to make a visceral, fully emotional, immersive experience.”
These comment speak to the already visible truth, that Gibson prefers the brutal chaos that violence can provide, and it’s most of this violence that provides his films with their infamous R ratings. He went on to further discuss action as it relates to Marvel Film Studios.
“To talk about the violence question, look at any Marvel movie,” he says. “They’re more violent than anything that I’ve done, but [in my movies,] you give a s— about the characters, which makes it matter more. That’s all I’ll say.”
For the sake of fairness, it’s worth noting that Mel Gibson has already spoken out about his complaints with this years DC superhero slug fest, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But these are very bold claims towards Marvel, who for the most part have done a solid job of making audiences care about the heroes that they choose to bring to the big screen. If they can take lesser known characters like Ant-Man and Dr. Strange and make audiences feel for their struggles, then I believe they’ve done their job.
You can catch Hacksaw Ridge in theatres, on November 4, 2016, starring Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, and Hugo Weaving.
Source: Comic Book
