The Patriot (2000)
Directed by Roland Emmerich
After proving himself on the field of battle in the French and Indian War, Benjamin Martin wants nothing more to do with such things, preferring the simple life of a farmer. But when his son Gabriel enlists in the army to defend their new nation, America, against the British, Benjamin reluctantly returns to his old life to protect his son.
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What critics compared The Patriot to
This bait-and-switch is nothing new in war stories; you can find it from "The Red Badge of Courage" clear back to "The Iliad."
Because the movie hinges on the Scots realizing that they will have to fight sneakier and dirtier than they’ve anticipated, the movie also vaguely resembles another Gibson starrer, The Patriot, albeit grounded with Mackenzie’s unobtrusive sense of craft.
The Verdict: These uprising event films (The Patriot, Kingdom of Heaven, Rob Roy, Spartacus) are a little dime-a-dozen.
This time around, Kenneth Branagh joins the cast as the pompous, vain Gilderoy Lockhart (funny how well Branagh can play an arrogant prick) and The Patriot’s Jason Isaacs steps in as Lucius Malfoy, father of the bratty Draco.
Harry also meets Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs, who mastered the art of the contemptuous sneer as a British officer in The Patriot ), a racist, classist wizard whose son Draco (Tom Felton) is Harry’s chief rival at school.
Also making his "Potter" debut is Jason Isaacs ("The Tuxedo," "The Patriot") in a wonderfully teeth-clenching turn as the nefarious, affluent, white-maned warlock father of Harry's cruel school rival Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton).
Harry's school supply trek with the Weasleys to Diagon Alley gives Julie Waters a chance to shine as no-nonsense Mrs. Weasley giggles like a schoolgirl in the presence of Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branaugh), an egoist promoting his biography 'Magical Me.' The enmity between the Weasleys and snobbish Voldemort follower Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs, "The Patriot") also comes bubbling to a head when Draco (Tom Felton) takes an opportunity to chide Harry.
New additions include Shirley Henderson ("24 Hour Party People," "Bridget Jones's Diary") as the girls room ghost, Jason Isaacs ("The Tuxedo," "The Patriot") as Draco's equally snide and sneering father, and Kenneth Branagh ("Love's Labour's Lost," "Wild Wild West") as an egotistical professor.
A few new characters are also introduced, including Jason Isaacs (2000's "The Patriot") as Lucius Malfoy, Draco's Machiavellian father, and Kenneth Branagh as the self-centered professor of the Dark Arts, Gilderoy Lockhart.
He has aimed for more creative heights before with some intriguing and entertaining movies like “Anonymous,” about those theories that Shakespeare was more than one author, and the macho American Revolution offering, “The Patriot.”
Regardless of what genre he dabbles in, Emmerich's movies tend to be fodder for film critics with only two (1996's "Independence Day" and 2000's "The Patriot") squeaking out a "Fresh" rating by the popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes (for what it's worth).
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Maybe he relied too much on the artistry of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (The Black Stallion, The Right Stuff, The Patriot, The Passion of the Christ) and by Joe Kraemer’s thumping score, which, during helicopter shots of the crime scene, explodes like God’s farts over Pittsburgh.
Other returning "Firefly" crew members, besides the aforementioned Staite as country girl Kaylee, are his right-hand man Zoe (Gina Torres, "The Matrix Revolutions"), her husband and ship's pilot Wash (Alan Tudyk, "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story") and the group's brawn Jayne (Adam Baldwin, "The Patriot").
But is it really any more bogus than Braveheart or Gladiator or The Patriot or any other revenge flick set in the past?
Isaacs, memorable as the bad Brit in "The Patriot," oozes freeze-dried evil.