THE PATRIOT
3 out of 5 stars

well... i thought it'd be appropro to watch/write a critique on this mel gibson classic! FREEEEEEEDOM!!! ok, wrong movie quote but he might as well said that in this one... ;)


before mel gibson was an alcoholic and stating anti-semitic remarks in public, he was THE PATRIOT. benjamin martin is a tomahawk chop throwin', have no mercy for the redcoats, allaroundbadass. he lives in the south carolina countryside with his 7 children, and the patriotic beast is unleashed when a cruel redcoat capt. tavington (jason issacs- when is he NOT playing an evil person?) shoots and kills one of his sons. there's one scene where he takes out 20 redcoat soldiers by himself, and it's pure action sequence/the impossible/rambo reborn. thus, the legend is born, and the legend of the "ghost" even falls unto the ears of tavington and EVEN lord general cornwallis, himself. (the ever so awesome tom wilkinson- when is he NOT awesome?) benjamin ends up as the south carolina militia leader, and with the help of EVERY man, they fight for independence, freedom, and ultimately democracy...

it's great to see a very young heath ledger take on the role of benjamin's son, and sometimes, he's more patriotic than his father at times. i love the fact that he does not give up on the revolutionary cause, and continues to work on sewing the torn flag he finds at a camp... (very iconic) the final battle scene is pretty awesomely climatic, but one can't help but think "is this a reenactment at a historical battle ground?"


the hollywood-ized american revolution is quite entertaining and actually well done...for an action flick. i for one would have preferred a more dramatized approach, so maybe this one wasn't really for me. i guess next year i'll just watch hbo's john adams instead... (i think i'll get more satisfaction out of that)

anyway, hope everyone had a happy fourth of july! :)