Gibson's robust directorial technique brings an undeniable punch to the combat scenes ... Elsewhere in the film, however, there's a sledgehammer lack of subtlety that is only partially mitigated by Andrew Garfield's impressive performance.

If they gave out awards for "most movie in a movie", then no other movie need turn up.

A rousing tale of Pacific War heroism that has more in common with jingoistic Wayne staples such as Sands of Iwo Jima or The Green Berets than anything in the 21st century, this is wearily formulaic film-making.

The trouble is this proper hero worship is drawn out and overstated in a bloated film that could lose 20 minutes of first-act exposition and 15 minutes of battle scene redundancies from its 131 minutes.