Overrated

Rating: 2/10 (17 September 2003)

I was very surprised when this won the Oscars for best picture and director. It's a fairly standard action movie. The battle scenes are gory but not very realistic -- somehow, long, drawn out affairs are over in about 15 minutes, the good guys are super killing machines, etc.
Gibson is a good at playing cool, restrained characters like Mad Max, but not good at playing a romantic lead or inspiring leader -- he was trying to be Kirk Douglas in Spartacus, but ended more like Graham Chapman in Life of Brian.
The entire portrayal of the agonized Robert Bruce was very dopey.
The direction is flabby, and uncertain, the pacing off, and the costumes aren't even terribly interesting or authentic.
Historical dramas tend to work best when they don't try to turn their stories toward universal truths, but focus on the characters and situations at hand. Gibson tried to turn Braveheart into a rousing statement about honor! truth! passion! freedom! but ended up just parroting the standard Hollywood line.