The Patriot

Rating: Null/10 (20 November 2007)

The Patriot depicts the American Revolutionary War. Benjamin Martin, played by Mel Gibson, was a previous war hero who promises he will not be involved in the war, although many people try to talk him into it. He claims his reasoning for not joining is because his wife had just died, and he had seven children he needed to take care of. He does end up joining the war for many reasons, mostly to fight for the freedom of his children. The move takes many twists, including the death of Benjamin's two sons, one of his son's falling in love, and many more. Through the movie, Colonel Tavington develops a hatred for Benjamin Martin because of his fighting technique. Through the many battles and all the action throughout the movie, it ends with an extensive fight between two of the stars. My personal views on this movie are it is the best war movie I have seen. The acting in this movie is second to none, and the story line is great. I like that the movie lets the viewers think it is going to be another pure action packed movie, although it does throw a curve ball in when Benjamin's oldest son falls in love. The love scenes, although a little boring, make the movie better because it does give a pause between all of the action. Another thing that makes this movie above average is the gore in the action scenes. In one of the battles, a cannon ball completely knocks one of the soldier's heads off, and in another battle scene, the cannon ball rolls on the ground taking off many soldiers' legs. After all the action, love, and gore is gone, another thing that makes this movie great is the suspense. The suspense created between the fight of Benjamin and Colonel Tavington. You can feel the hate between the two, and the final big fight of the movie has a long fight between the two, having Tavington eventually die. Mel Gibson's performance in this movie was great. The movie reminded me of a modern day "Brave Heart" because the story line and the action. The movie is not necessarily based in the same time "Brave Heart" is but the story line is similar I feel because it depicts a guy leading many to do what is right rather than what is expected. The movie not just a pure action thriller, it does have a plot, and it does have twists. The movie is also correct in the dress, talk, and fighting technique. The fighting style with the two armies walking towards each other face to face taking each other is correct for the time. Also, another part of the movie that sticks out to me is the way Benjamin Martin went about attacking the British. The British did not know how to react because he did not fight them face to face. He would hide! He and his men would never show their faces, and I think that was key to their success. Some critics will say this movie is long and drawn out and overall gets boring. Well, I feel this is untrue because frankly the action and story line. If you do not enjoy the "older" style of fighting, then those critics may be correct, and you may think this is a boring movie, although if you like the revolutionary style of life, fighting, and survival then I think you would enjoy it. This is a great movie because of these reasons, and I highly advise you to watch it.