I’m a parent. I haven’t got the luxury of principles.
Your ultimate judgement of Roland Emmerich’s revolutionary war tale The Patriot depends entirely on what you were expecting: an intelligent historical film with some action, or an action tale with some intelligence, based on historical events. I was expecting the latter, and I absolutely loved it. It is the Braveheart of the American Revolution.
Director Roland Emmerich abandons his disaster style for a more personal touch. If you are avoiding this because his name is on it… Stop. Perhaps if he let others pen his screenplays more often, his dialogue would not get so shitty.
Mel Gibson, in a very Braveheart-esque performance, plays widower Benjamin Martin, whose experiences and action in the French and Indian war have left him unwilling to support any violent measures to prevent further tyranny from the British empire. But an eager young nation has other ideas, and Ben, along with his family, find themselves surrounded by war.
In a gesture of pity, martin offers care to wounded soldiers from both sides. Along comes Colonel Tavington (Jason Isaacs, in another of his brilliantly overacted performances.), dubbed ‘The Butcher’ by anyone with even a speck of humanity. He orders the colonial POWs shot, and accuses one of Martin’s sons (Gabriel, played by Heath Ledger) of treason and orders him to be taken back to be hanged. To top it off, he shoots another son in cold blood. Why, you ask? Because he’s the Butcher!
And he’ll kill your dog for fun, so don’t push him!
As you may have guessed, this does not set well with Wallace, I mean Martin, and he grabs two of his sons, a few muskets, and a hatchet, and proceeds to massacre an entire regiment of Redcoats to save Gabriel. In a fit of anger, rage, and revenge, he catches an escaping redcoat and mutilates his dead body with his hatchet. Unlike Gibson’s other revenge movies, this one attacks the heart. We feel the deaths. We care about the characters. And killing, while justified, is never glorified.
Martin, dubbed “The Ghost”, reluctantly becomes the leader of a ragtag band of rebels who counter England’s Stand-in-a-straight-line-and-fire-randomly style by hiding in the bushes, attacking from the trees, and just being a thorn in the royal ass of the British.
The performances all around are excellent, the sets are gorgeous, the battles are splendidly directed, and John Williams once again delivers an outstanding score, as Patriotic as the Star Spangled Banner itself. Also I recommend the Extended cut available on the Blu-Ray. There is about 10 extra minutes that fill in a few small holes.
And please do not get it confused for this:
For your sake. Not mine.
10/10
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