Yes it is a BAD movie....

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2008)

....but my word it's entertaining.
Mel Gibson portrays a farmer Benjamin Martin who's greatest goal in life is to live peacefully and taking care of his children...and to build a rocking chair that doesn't break. When the colony of South Corolina enters the revolutionary war he reluctantly sees his eldest son Gabriel (the late GREAT Heath Ledger) join the regular army. By the cruel hand of fate his second eldest son is killed and Gabriel is taking prisoner, from here on Benjamin has to take action in order to save his son and finds himself drawn into the fight for a free country.
Yes it is a bad movie and it is by no means historically accurate, far from it, and that is not really it's purpose. The purpose of the film is to tell a compelling story about a man doing extra ordinary things under extra ordinary conditions, and as such it works. It does not have the same feel to it as Braveheart, which it clearly tries to copy. Where Braveheart to some degree was very serious and took itself very seriously.
The Patriot tells roughly the same story but here "Braveheart" has grown a little older and has a family who he fights for. The movie has two parts: part one where it goes really well for the militia Benjamin leads along with his son and a French officer (Tchéky Karyo, who I think they got because Jean Reno isn't fat and Gerard Depardieu is too old) sent to train the militia. Part two the militia is being hunted by Colonel Tavington (Jason Isaacs) and who uses very un-gentlemen-like methods to drive them out.
Mel Gibson has played this part a lot in recent years and it shows as he most of the movie runs on auto pilot and relies on his eyes and his Lethal Weapons mannerisms. Jason Isaacs is also very stereotypical and one wonders if really wanted to be there.
This was a lot of bad things, but really the movie IS entertaining because you can watch it without having to think...at all...I know Roland Emmerich has been criticized for making such films, especially his Armageddon epic The Day After Tomorrow, but i really think there has to be room for that kind of movie as well.
As a movie critic on Danish television so rightly said today: sometimes you have to watch the bad to appreciate the good...
...I like to watch this movie anyway...it's just good entertainment.