Good, but not great

Rating: Null/10 (20 March 2002)

Braveheart is entertaining but Mel Gibson makes a "my character good, bad guys evil" movie. That's fine for Lethal Weapon but it is annoying for historical films (The Patriot being the worst offender.) It's not so much the historical inaccuracies that bother me but rather the portrayal of the main character William Wallace. There does not seem to be any depth to his character. I'm sure the real William Wallace was a much more complex figure than he's made out to be in the movie. An absolutely brilliant actor to portray a flawed hero is Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia. In my opinion, Braveheart is entertaining to watch but does not deserve the status as one of the best movies of all time.