Good film, but many flaws away from greatness

Rating: 8/10 (4 March 2001)

Watching Braveheart was an enjoyable experience. I thought the cinematography was amazing... the fight scenes were some of the best ever filmed... and the story was filled with passion and emotion. However, they were a few parts of the film that just didn't work for me. First of all, the story was quite one-dimensional. If you are looking for anything else behind William Wallace's revenge against the evil King of England, you won't find it here. In fact, the main characters do not grow or change throughout the movie. Second, the romance between Wallace and the Princess is not very believable. It moves way too fast and doesn't work with the rest of the story. Third, the acting is far from perfect. Save Gibson's performance, no one else stood out as particularly memorable. Finally, the movie is overlong. However, these flaws do not detract from a generally, very well made movie. It's a movie intended to inspire... and for many, it does its job. One of the better pictures of 1995 (behind Usual Suspects, of course) and a solid 8 out of 10 in my books.