American Braveheart

Rating: 9/10 (3 July 2000)

Mel Gibson stars in this year's Braveheart, The Patriot,directed and produced by the two guys that brought ID4 and Godzilla. It also stars Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, and Chris Cooper. Gibson plays Benjamin Martin, a French and Indian war hero, father of seven, who doesn't want to fight in this war but when the war comes home, the only thing he can do is fight. And if you've seen a Mel Gibson action film, when something happens to his loved one he goes crazy, real crazy. The film is a very good history lesson in the Revolutionary War. It goes over a lot of historical moments and talks about a lot of people. This isn't a war movie without battle scenes and they are intense. They are extremely bloody and get the "war is violent" point across very well. They have a John Woo type quality to them(a lot of slow motion). Mel does what Mel does best, good acting, brings a coolness to the screen and kicks a lot of butt. Heath Ledger does a good job as well as Gibson's oldest son. He proves that he can do a big budget action film and can hold his own with a huge superstar. The one thing The Patriot falls short in is the dramatic gaps between the action. They run very long and make this film longer than it should be. The Patriot is a fantastic film that is a must see but it's long(over 2 and a half hours) and one very bloody film.