The Patriot, le chemin de la liberté

En comparaison avec Braveheart ce n'est que légèrement pire que Troie comparé à Gladiator. Un film d'action hollywoodien, un travail artisanal de qualité, mais il n'est pas vraiment réalisé « avec cœur » et présente le risque de ne pas être accepté par les masses de spectateurs (malgré un budget si énorme). Les masses ne pouvaient pas rejeter Patriote car il contient absolument tous les clichés de guerre, d'épopées héroïques et romantiques que vous pouvez vous rappeler de l'histoire du cinéma. Il les mélange dans un scénario riche et avec un casting d'acteurs de qualité. Mais Emmerich est trop kitsch - beaucoup de compositions sont réarrangées et recolorées de manière irréaliste (même en bleu, juste pour les yeux de Gibson !), et le pathos servi est tellement excessif que cela enlève au film la gravité dont il a tant besoin en tant que fresque historique sur des événements réels. Mais en tant que « film Disney » pour un dimanche après-midi pluvieux, ça passe. (08/05/2020)

Gibson overstepped the mark here... True, the basis of the film is the same as that of his mega hit Braveheart, but unlike the campaign of the charismatic Scottish warrior William Wallace, the struggle for national independence of a certain Benjamin Martin does not have the right "scale". Scale in fulfilling the templates of a historical film, scale in the piling of clichés. Because The Patriot is uncomfortably predictable, and the emotional charge is generated is a way that is so toiling and obvious that nothing happens during the moment it's supposed to spark. The handsome poses of the statuesque hero Gibson do not help. Roland Emmerich, I think that's one big historical mistake, and I thank him for confirming it again with his sterile and inept direction. The script is one big mess, which mattes and kneads a potentially interesting topic in the most chewy and exuded way. The characters are so embarrassingly standardized that my memories of a Czech building film of the 1950s come back to me. Pathos, pathos, and pathos again. In the middle of it, you just have to appreciate something as mediocre as Gibson's acting. At least it elevates the film to slightly below-average, but its schematics and traditional Emmerichism ("being more Emmerichan than American") represent something I don't want to see again. (10/02/2005)

Popcorn that looks better than the stuff you make it home. After tasting it, however, you find that underneath the fluffy and buttered crust it is burnt. It doesn't mean it's inedible, it means that it’s not good enough to eat regularly and with gusto. (29/02/2008)

The beginning is engaging, the portrayal of the characters is good, the production quality is high, and Mel Gibson's facial expressions are traditionally precise. Jason Isaacs plays the villain with skill, and the initial clearance of twenty redcoats is unforgettable. But those are the only highlights of the film and then it only goes downhill. The fight scenes are not as dynamic and the mass scenes do not work well for Roland Emmerich. The cinematography is confusing and unclear, and the raw war atmosphere is clearly lacking. It's hard to fault Patriot for its pathos, but Gibson alone with his array of alternating angry, furious, and sad looks cannot win the war. (16/11/2003)

Nowadays it's a classic and Mel is in great form in it. They really shouldn't have touched this guy's family. His crazy expression is inimitable and the scene with him and his youngest daughter, when they both fall into each other's arms, can bring tears to your eyes. But I am most entertained by the people who are the ones who scold it because it has too much American patriotism.__P.S. A great Jason Isaacs (and the villains in general) and the traditionally perfect John Williams. (12/08/2009)

Emmerich's craft Is not only in the dynamite, but at times also in the details, which is on full display here. The production design is pretty sexy, Williams caresses the soul, and the acting duo of Gibson - Isaacs does exactly what each does best. But as expected, it's a patriotic farce, with the German filmmaker yelling "long live the spirit of the American Declaration" in every scene, and the difference between the good guys and the bad guys is as clear as between Mordor and a Hobbiton. It's watchable, but the birth of a legendary hero couldn't be more clichéd. Not to mention that it’s longer than a wait at the dentist. (19/01/2018)

I haven't seen a more black and white portrayal of the struggle for independence, but I have to admit that if the Americans (Germans) are making the British look like pigs, at least they are led by the biggest of them all, Jason Isaacs. He makes you keep your fingers crossed for Mel to chop up as many Redcoats as he can with his tomahawk. If, on top of that, he also has Ledger, Karyo, Cooper and Wilkinson, the result can’t be mediocre. (09/02/2015)