Almost liked it.

Rating: 3/10 (22 August 2001)

I've seen the movie now several times always with people who fawned and drooled over it. I've tried to like it. I may be the only person in the world I know who doesn't like this movie. Sure, it has it's strong points, Solid performances from all the supporting cast. The english king in particular is an exceptional Machiavellian villian, doing whatever it takes to stay in power. Great use of locations in and around scotland. Fantastic battle scenes and period detail.
I guess my main problem is with Mel Gibson. His portrayal of William Wallace while okay just wasn't that convincing for me. I kept expecting Danny Glover to appear any second to help his old buddy fight the evil British. And the constant harping on freedom with the long bombastic monologues got old really quickly.
Another thing that bugged me was the lack of subtlety of any kind. It seems like the filmmakers assumed the viewer wasn't smart enough to pick up on the themes of the movie so they kept clubbing us over the head with it. (How many times do we need to hear speeches on freedom?) Ultimately, Mr. Gibson's portrayal of William Wallace just didn't convince me and I got tired of the complete and utter lack of subtlety in the filmmaking.

A decent if flawed attempt.