Too Many Bad Laughs, Not Enough "Heart".

Rating: 6/10 (4 July 2000)

***Spoiler Alert***
Besides its many faults, there are actually a few scenes that really shine in this movie.
No doubt this is an action movie, and looking back to the previous Mel Gibson movie "Braveheart", the audience is revved up for some intense, gore-filled scenes. The first action scene which involves Gibson's character and his two young sons ambushing a small band of British soldiers was ingenious. The cinematography was spectacular. Its a shame to say that the following action sequences were lacking in color and originality, and even seemed to be quite repetitive. No doubt a bad guy that seemingly defies death time after time is almost comical in a place where comedy doesn't fit. What is this guy, a cat? How many lives does he have? Its like the Super Mario game, where you keep throwing Koopa into the lava, but the sucker keeps coming back!
Another scene that stands out in mind is a brilliant "battle-of-wits" between Gibson and the much-feared General Cornwallis. The dialogue hits right on the spot, and the last shot of the general's aide walking in with the "released officer" was film at its best. No doubt this is when I figured out that the movie worked best with it worked on its comedic elements, when used properly, however. There is quite a bit of material here that is unfailingly prone to bad laughs.
Gibson fares very well amidst the chaos of a script that tries too hard to hit the audience's emotional and patriotic buttons. It is important to notice that the bright spots of the film are those run by Gibson and his natural acting ability to cover every possible range of acting (he is quite remarkable at that). The rest of the film is too overbearing with shallow melodrama and "cardboard characters". The actors that take up the small parts do little but play into stereotypes and little virtuosity is exhibited.
To have made this a better movie, the filmmakers would have been wise to spend a little more time in the editing room, cutting out the unnecessary melodrama bits that make the movie so long, create a little bit of character intrigue in the antagonists, and most of all focus more on Gibson; the large band of characters and their adjoining, uninteresting subplots drain away from the focus of the film.
Which reminds me, what was the focus of the film? Oh, thats right, patriotism. Since we live in a society that holds such cynical regards to such words as patriotism, couldn't a better theme or title been aplied here? Nobody bought that silly Hulk Hogan "say your prayers, eat your vitamins, and salute your flag" slogan, so why should anyone now?
There was that other war, called Vietnam, that put a big damper on that patriot stuff. Ok, you can say I'm reading too much into the themes here, but at least take a second to think about it.
6 of 10.