Mel, swords, bloodshed and those damn English!

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2000)

Films about war are always full of inacuracies. They have to be. When you have a hero with the face of Mel Gibson or perhaps Sylvester Stallone ( when he was big )or whomever, you are vying for box office dollars in a crowded market. So you are appealing to the masses, and in this case, the masses are Americans and the timing is the Independence Day weekend. Does it really matter how accurate this film is? Does it really matter if it shows the Americans as nothing but brave patriots that are only interested in becoming independent? Does it really matter if most of the English in this film are nothing more than blood-thirsty mongers that want to burn, and plague everything in their path?
Of course not. And I could really care less either. This is the summer season and in the summer, in the big picture, all I ask to be is entertained. I am not here for a history lesson nor do I care if this is nothing more than a xenophobic account of what may or may not have really happened to my neighbours to the south. I want to sit in the theater and suck back a Coke, devour some M&M's and be entertained. And so far, with average efforts like Shaft, MI2, Shanghai Noon and abyssmal ones like Battlefield Earth, the market and the fans, people like me, are ready to enjoy some ass kicking, and some entertaining ass kicking. Mel Gibson and Roland Emmerich provide that here.
The Patriot is a simple enough story about a great war hero from the years past that has hung up his musket and sword and wants to raise a family. He has done some heinous things in the past that he is obviously not proud of and he has a terrible and imminent fear that his sins are going to come back to haunt him. The United States has decided to go to war with England for it's freedom and it's independence. But William.... I mean Benjamin wants no part of it. His oldest son, Gabriel, (in an amazing performance by Heath Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You) is eager to join the battle. Soon after, he returns home with battle wounds and Benjamin is tending to both countries wounded on the porch of his house. It is then that Col. William Tavington comes along, and for reasons unknown, except that he is a sadist, decides to take Gabriel hostage and then hang him, kill all of the American wounded, burn down Ben's house and then he kills one of his younger sons. Quite a guy this Tavington is. This, of course, gets Benjamin into the war. And it is this next scene that is one of the best battle scenes I have ever seen. Benjamin and two of his young sons attack and kill the men that are taking Gabriel hostage. The battle is great because the men that are being hunted and killed are not cartoon characters that pop out of nowhere only to die. They are young, scared, boys, following orders and are just on the wrong side of the war. You see the fear, the anguish and the sheer horror on their face as they are about to die patriotically.
The rest of the film has a few minor sub-plots of love and other boring stuff that only serves as a purpose so that when someone's wife or girlfriend dies, it gives the men a chance to seek vengence. But the real highlight of the film is the battles. They are bloody and brutal and I enjoyed them immensely. When a cannonball is launched and it takes off legs and heads, it gives you the proper perspective of war. It is just enough to remind us that as much as we are enjoying this "film", these events really did take place and just like Saving Private Ryan, they were brutal and final. This is not like Commando, when Arnold mows down 95 men with an M-16 and they drop like flies. This is violent, nasty and bloody.
The Patriot may be liked by Americans because it is about their fight for independence. It may be liked by them because it shows how they fought for what they have. It be liked by them because it shows how proud they are of what they had and what it took to get it.
I like it because it is fun, entertaining and it is a great summer flick. That's all. Nothing more and nothing less. I'm very glad this film was made because here we are, now heading into July 1st, Canada Day, and so far this summer, we have had one amazing film (Gladiator), one truly hilarious film (Road Trip), two moderately funny films (Me Myself and Irene, Big Mommas House) and a slew of okay films (take your pick). The Patriot won't top Gladiator as the best of the bunch so far, but at least it can be mentioned in the same breath.
8 out of 10