Review of The Patriot (2000) by Kai82 — 29 Nov 2020

Basically this is a weaker version of Braveheart adapted to the American Revolutionary War. If you do not believe me just make a comparison from characters, motivations and story arcs. It is the story of Benjamin Martin played by Mel Gibson who is a former soldier who is dragged into the Revolutionary war by dire circumstances and with this also the story of the war and struggles.

Within. While the character is fictional I learned recently that he is also a mixture of historical characters. Again it is the Hollywood version of events full of emotion, glory and black and white morality.

The truth is less nice but never point this out to US citizens as it is glorified and nearly a dogma. The reality was grim as there is no glory in war and both sides committed horrible crimes (which is a textbook definition for war by itself).

However this is an entertainment movie and not a documentary so for me it does not influence my rating. I am not sure if it is as intense and emotional for non Americans as me. To shorten it the movie uses all the techniques to get immersion like Braveheart.

This is show not tell, giving emotional impact, make the bad guys (enjoyable) evil, great scenery and breathtaking battles. However I think they have overdone it as there is to much pathos, patriotism and melodrama.

It weakened the experience as it gave sometimes a disbelieving feeling that got me out of the immersion. There is nothing for me to criticize for the actors. The cast is well chosen and delivers their roles.

I will praise Mel Gibson and Jason Isaacs as best performers in this movie. Both accomplish each other as their respective antagonists / nemesis. There are also some good jokes sparingly used in the movie.

The main question that remains is why does this movie not work as good as Braveheart does? For me it is mostly that they overdone some aspects and we have seen it done better in other movies (The Braveheart comparison and similarity did also not help).

Maybe Roland Emmerich is not as good as director too but I must remark that I see also no serious mistakes. Overall it is enjoyable but fast forgotten movie.