Plot shrinks before the greatness of open sets

Rating: 7/10 (25 December 2014)

'Braveheart' was prepared to be one of the greatest epic movie experiences of all time, if it wasn't built around it's poor, formulaic core: Randall Wallace's script.
The movie opens with some astonishing, aerial views of the Highlands, setting immediately the movie color scheme: brown and green. During the three hours of 'Braveheart', our eyes and hearts will be invaded with these two colors, that come from the mountains down to the very pieces of clothe that the characters wear. The bond between Scotland and Nature is assured then!
Although 'Braveheart' is regarded as one of the most historically inaccurate movies ever, an unsuspicious watcher (like me) won't spot that difference while watching the film. 'Braveheart' succeeds on involving us in its story, resorting to little details like the use of Gaelic-Scottish accent to help. E.g., the artificial look of the sets and the American English accent of the characters in 'Gladiator' made me take much longer to feel wrapped in the film. 'Braveheart' never intended to be historically accurate. It wants to create a whole new myth, and succeeds on doing that realistically.
The real backdrop of 'Braveheart' is its argument, which is as typical as a Hollywood epic drama movie can get. Taking little risks when writing the plot cuts on the thrills of the film, as much of the story becomes predictable. Here, 'Braveheart' loses to 'Gladiator', as I felt the last one took the liberty of being tragically dense, which resulted on me being completely hooked on its climatic finale.
Although no actor is really outstanding, all the actors are competent playing the characters they're given. The story's texture comes mainly from the feeling of the existence of the director's trademark, the sense that a human is behind the camera. Maybe it was an unpredicted consequence from the cuts Mel Gibson applied to the film to avoid the NC-17 rating, but there's undoubtedly something unique in the quick way the story unfolds.