Entertaining...

Rating: 7/10 (30 June 2000)

Quick, name a Mel Gibson epic taking place during a huge war with a large struggle for freedom and lost loves and hardships throughout. Well that's easy, 1995's Best Picture Oscar Winner "Braveheart". Aha, that is where you are wrong, well technically you are right because you answered the question with a correct answer but...I was referring to the new Roland Emmerich directed Revolutionary War epic "The Patriot". A duh.
It's an inevitable comparison. It would have been even if Gibson wasn't in it but when he signed up to portray Benjamin Martin, a widowed father of 7 children with a haunting past from The French-Indian War, he asked America to jokingly refer to his new film as "Braveheart 2" or maybe "William Wallace vs. The British yet again..." or wait, wait, wait maybe even "Lt. Riggs vs. the...na". Anyway on with the movie review.
It's the beginning of the summer and what do you say to yourself. "I need action and a huge budget". Well "The Patriot" easily boasts that with Gibson racking in $25 million and director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla). An impressive screenwriter in Robert Rodat, known of course for his Oscar nominated screenplay for "Saving Private Ryan".
I understand that this sounds like I am bashing the crap out Mel's new vehicle but I have to say it was some impressive eye candy and the script wasn't weak. The acting was on top of its' game and the drama was as thick as...well let's just say it was there slapping you in the face. But I was enjoying the whole thing all gul-darn near 3 hours of it. The action scenes were very intense and bloody, oh we all love the blood and guts, and the plot was all about REVENGE! WOOOO! I mean it's about a dad who is seeking revenge for a loved one's death. Never heard that before. It's clichéd like a mofo but it's good ol' American fun. I mean we never lose, just look at "Rocky 4" and our Olympic basketball team.
All in all, a clichéd war epic that pleases the crap out of the audience and reminds us how fun the pictures can be.
7/10