This Patriot isn't a favorite for the Superbowl...

Back in the year 2000, when Mel Gibson was considered a respectable actor, he made a film called The Patriot. This film was very well done, even with it's similarities to Braveheart (which I will not be reviewing today). It actually gave me patriotic feelings after watching (and negative feelings for the British from the 1700s). It is loosely based upon Francis Marion (the "Swamp Fox"), though it only touched on Marion's impact on the Revolution in South Carolina.

Mel Gibson plays Benjamin Martin, a widower father in South Carolina with a bunch of kids. Because of past actions in the French and Indian War and fear for his family he refuses to fight in the Revolutionary War. But when the jerk colonel (the guy who plays Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter) in the British army burns down his house, takes his oldest son (Heath Ledger) to be hanged, and kills his 15 year old son (Ephram from Everwood) for almost no reason, Martin has the motivation to fight and save his son. Soon he is considered by the British to be "The Ghost" and he ends up leading a militia.

With amazing visuals and non-cliche storyline, this film is not Hollywoodized or cheesy. It shows watchers the cruelty and reality of the Revolutionary War. It is quite historically accurate, though not perfect and is an excellent historical film (not documentary). This film is really well made, with really great acting.

Thoroughly enjoyable, I definitely recommend this film. The Patriot runs 165 minutes and is rated R for violence. Definitely not a film to show your children. I give it solid 9 ramheads out of 10.

The Caped Crusader Does It (Again)

Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer (that guy from Top Gun), George Clooney, and now Christian Bale. Batman live-action TV and movies have graced this pleasant world for decades. If you haven't heard, this summer the newest installment of the Batman series, The Dark Knight was released. It was greatly hyped, it shattered its expectations and it STILL remains #1 in the box office.

Heath Ledger produced the performance of a lifetime (then he died...) as the infamous Joker. Christian Bale did a fine job as Bruce Wayne/Batman: he gave Wayne more depth. In Batman Begins, I was impressed with the background and depth they gave us with Bruce's life and feelings and thoughts as a young man. The Dark Knight gives us a glimpse of Bruce's emotions toward Rachel as well as how he reacts to the the choice between love and duty. Once again, Ledger's performance was phenomenal: the Joker is everything you want and need him to be. He is funny. Really funny. Oh yeah, and he is also dangerous, resourceful, intelligent and a SUPER supervillian.

Special effects in The Dark Knight were excellent. No noticeable glitches or anything. Music was good, pretty unnoticed, so it does its job. It enhances the film without taking over the scenes.

The film is rated PG-13, so you probably shouldn't bring young children to see it (unless they are desensitized already...). It runs 152 minutes of awesomeness.

Overall The Dark Knight is a must-see:

9 ramheads out of 10