3.09.2011

60/60 Review #18: Braveheart.

I don't think I've ever had less to say about one of the 60/60 movies so far on this list. I mean, it was bound to happen, right? There was inevitably going to be at least one movie on the list that I just had little to say about--good, bad, or otherwise. But let's start with the story. It's about William Wallace (Mel Gibson), a young boy who grows into a highly intelligent and skilled young man. He falls in love with Murron (Catherine McCormack), but he has to marry her in secret. Why? Because the British have invaded and set up a law that allows any nobleman to sleep with a woman on her wedding night. Unfortunately, the Brits attack anyway and end up killing Murron. This sparks a fire under William, and he begins to fight back. It starts to then spiral into something much more, and he becomes a symbol of freedom for Scotland--a man of legend. And he--along with others, namely Hamish (Brendon Gleeson) and Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen)--attempt to take down the invaders and win Scotland its freedom back.

Going into this, I knew the basics. I knew about the famous speech and face paint and line and all that. I knew how it ended. I knew he was Scottish. But that was about it. I think what surprised me the most about the movie was that the aforementioned famous scene was only a little over an hour into the film (maybe an hour and a half at most). I was expecting that to be part of the big climax battle or something.

And that was really the most surprising thing in the movie. That, to me, was my biggest issue with it. It just felt like I'd seen this a thousand times... which isn't because I knew all about it going in, because I already told you all I knew. It just felt like a tired story--guy rises from nothing, becomes a legend, leads people to victory, becomes a Jesus figure. Oh, I see... it's the monomyth! It's the structure of the Hero's Journey. Of course it's familiar. I don't, however, have issues with other stories that use it (Harry Potter, for instance). I guess it's just that this one didn't do anything different with it.

Of course, that doesn't mean I disliked it. I thought it was a very well-made film and it kept me entertained during it's 3-hour run time. I grabbed my laptop once or twice in the last hour, but that's about it. The characters were good; the acting was good; the directing was good. Everything about it was just fine and dandy and entertaining. It just wasn't one of those where, after the fact, I felt super excited and "Oh my God that was awesome!" about it.

If I had one problem besides that, it would be the part after William comes back from being away almost his entire life, and he's in love with this girl who gave him a flower way back when--and she's also in love with him. It just felt kinda forced and out of place. It's like they just needed to move the story forward, but they didn't have time to develop the relationship because the movie was already 3 hours long. But that's it.

Otherwise, the movie was fine, like I said. I'm starting to feel redundant. I said at the beginning I didn't have much to say... so I'll just summarize in a One Sentence Review: I've seen the story done thousands of times, but this one didn't do anything special with it, leaving it mostly uneventful; I did, however, enjoy the characters quite a bit and the film was overall well made.


I Am McLovin!

(P.S. I feel weird giving it this low of a rating, because I do think the quality might deserve one higher for me. But as it is, I'm gonna just stick with this particular rating.)

11 comments:

  1. For the love story, remind yourself of the time and setting. This happens a few hundred years before Romeo & Juliet and they supposedly fell in love at first sight.

    There could have been a scene or two of Wallace & Murron sitting at the diner and ol Braveheart giving her a carefully crafted mix tape...but back then, if one even had a choice in the matter, they "just knew".

    Oh, and remind yourself that this was a village full of grimey dumpy lookin' Scots, and he looks like Mel Gibson.

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  2. Love at first sight was ridiculous in Romeo and Juliet, too. That's the joke of it. R&J isn't meant to be taken seriously; Shakespeare was poking fun at the silliness of the situation.

    But this wasn't even really love at first sight. This was more like love before first sight. They were smitten with each other before he even returned to the village that he hadn't been to since he was a wee lad. Now him I can see an argument for. She gave him this flower at the funeral and he always remembered her for it and grew very fond of her and the memory. But her? The movie made it seem like the flower scene was the first time they'd even had contact with each other, and she's gonna be all gung-ho for him all those years later? It just didn't work for me.

    However, your argument of "he looks like Mel Gibson" works :P .

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  3. Love at first sight was ridiculous in Romeo and Juliet, too. That's the joke of it. R&J isn't meant to be taken seriously; Shakespeare was poking fun at the silliness of the situation.

    But this wasn't even really love at first sight. This was more like love before first sight. They were smitten with each other before he even returned to the village that he hadn't been to since he was a wee lad. Now him I can see an argument for. She gave him this flower at the funeral and he always remembered her for it and grew very fond of her and the memory. But her? The movie made it seem like the flower scene was the first time they'd even had contact with each other, and she's gonna be all gung-ho for him all those years later? It just didn't work for me.

    However, your argument of "he looks like Mel Gibson" works :P .

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  4. (I dare all R2D2 readers to turn this into an argument about love at first sight)

    That's the thing with life in this sort of time though, isn't it? Odds are you've known the person you end up with since you were both kids.

    Like I say, I got the impression that when Wallace returned, Murron just thought to herself "Good job growin' up!" and ran with it.

    In that village during that era, he's a catch. He's handsome, he's funny, he's an above average dancer - what more courtship was neccessary?

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  5. I never had a problem with the love story. I had more of a problem with the violence that was used for shock and awe rather than being integral to the story. It puts me off rewatching it ever again. I remember enjoying the movie, but the violence sticks out more. I like Brendan Gleeson a lot and the character of Robert the Bruce, but looking back Mel Gibson's character is fairly one-dimensional - he's raging and wants revenge and he wants the Scots to want it too. I'm not sure how much of his real life persona has leaked into my opinion of it.

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  6. Hatter: I suppose I can see your argument. Still, the love story wasn't issue enough to put me off the movie. It was a very minute quibble.

    Jess: I'm with ya on Brendon Gleeson and Robert the Bruce. They were two of the best characters (along with the crazy Irishman who joins up with them). I think the violence of the movie was interesting... and here's why. Half the time, they showed legs and arms getting cut off and faces smashed in, but the other half of the time, they didn't show anything at all. A good example is when they don't show Murron's throat getting slit, but they show the British soldier's maybe 10 minutes later.

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  7. Nick, you're right - they also don't show a ton of Wallace's torture, but you're left with the same need to turn away. Perhaps I should give the movie more credit, and blame my own imagination for grossing me out.

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  8. y'know, apparently the actual William Wallace was a horrible guy - a rapist and murderer...

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  9. Simon - I bet he also didn't look like Mel Gibson. =)

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  10. Yeah, probably had a fair few more scars...

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  11. This film is like Chariots of Fire with swords, which is to say dull, predictable and way too long.

    At least The Patriot had the Mohawk scene.

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