THROWBACK REVIEW: Godzilla (1998)

Autumn movies this year kinda suck. I've been to three so far and I've not been impressed. I'm hoping some other movies I've come across change my mind but this weekend, I found myself in need of something fun. So I watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Both films I absolutely love. Through this little experience, I came into contact with a few people on G+ who disagreed with my review of Godzilla Resurgence. Unfortunetaly...dealing with the Godzilla fandom isn't exactly a favorite thing to do on my list (and neither is dealing with the fandom of Star Trek, which in some ways can be worse), but I held plenty of discussions and debates about what they liked about this film and whatnot and all I can say is...I'm no expert of Japanese politics currently. Hell, I don't give a damn about politics here. I'm actually kinda sick about politics. And I think people know that about me because they just love throwing it in my face about how the political satire of Shin Gojira is something my "American mindset" that must only love explosions like I'm some mindless Michael Bay zombie must not comprehend. (Facepalm) If I can enjoy political movies like Godzilla (1984), or other political movies for that matter (Star Trek VI), understand them, and enjoy them...then I'll just laugh at your "defense" of Shin Gojira. What the hell does this have to do with the movie I'm gonna be talking about? Well if all I care about are explosions and nonstop action, then this movie must be a fucking Godsend. Right? RIGHT???

I wanted to tackle this movie on some other special occasion, but with all that's going on, I guess now is as good a time as any to show the nonbelievers that I might actually have competent reasons for disliking Shin Godzilla. And to back this up...I'm gonna throw arguments that have been used against me into this analysis of America's first ever attempt at Godzilla filmmaking. I'm actually surprised to say, but happy to say that there aren't too many people on my case about my opinion of Shin Gojira. But they are persistent. Which is kinda what led to this. And by the way, I'm going on the record to say that when I put this movie on today, I watched it with my friend, who's an exchange student from Japan. I don't know if he's a huge Godzilla fan but we talked briefly about the new film (which he hasn't seen), before moving on to Roland Emmerich.

This is the "Godzilla" movie that most fans will call the absolute worst of the worst. A film so bad, that Toho went out of their way to claim that the monster in this movie in no way was related, or represented the King of Monsters. And if that wasn't enough, they bought the rights to the film, just to kill the monster in Final Wars. For many Americans, this was actually the film to introduce them to Godzilla. However for me personally, I didn't see this movie until about halfway through high school. 2006-2007. And I'd already established myself as a fan of the big guy. I still remember my first movie (Godzilla VS Mothra: Battle for Earth), and remember the endless trips to Hollywood Video just to rent some Godzilla dub that I hadn't seen yet. It drove my parents insane. I didn't care. The first time I saw this film, I was much like the fanbase. I kinda hated it. But as years passed, it gained my attention, and now I see it as rather...harmless honestly. Not good, but the worst? I wouldn't call it that.

Despite what others would have you believe, this film doesn't just crash and burn at every angle. In fact, I'll go on a limb and say there is a lot of very well done aspects in this movie. The monster design. I loved it! If not for a point that we'll get to soon enough, this monster would actually be one of the coolest things on screen. It needs to be said that the dated CGI definitely shows at times. It can stand out like a sore thumb, but Roland has been there, done that, got the shirt before, and his visuals can still be very wonderful to look at. But that one point that I mentioned up above comes into play here. For a monster called "Godzilla"...there's surprisingly very little resemblance to Godzilla. But ironically enough, here's where my first argument for Shin Gojira comes into play. I've been told that my problems of the monster itself in that movie are irrelevant because it's a new incarnation, and not the same. So "New Godzilla" can be different. Well if that's the case then this Godzilla should have been flying high. Sure he can be wounded by the military, lack his trademark atomic breath, look more animal-like, and eat fish. This is a new Godzilla! The possibilities are limitless! This is point number one. If Japan can go through, not one, not two...but FOUR different eras and even more incarnations of Godzilla, why didn't this reimagining get a little less trash from the fanbase? It was America's first attempt. Their first incarnation. Surely no wrongs could be done! Hell, the opening credits strictly state that the character is "based on" the Toho monster of the same name. Based on. So we obviously did nothing wrong with this monster....Do you see the logic of this argument? I sure don't. I think I've made my point.

The characters of this movie can be ridiculously clichéd, if not downright annoying. One thing Godzilla movies never seem to nail are characters. They're so bad at this, that I actually made myself make a list of the Top 25 Best Human Characters in Monster Movies. And guess what...a few characters from this movie actually made the list believe it or not, because there are a few in this movie that are actually pretty fun. I like Colonel Hicks, the French Agent Philippe. Even Nick Tatopoulos got a mention...but I had to specify that it was the incarnation from the animated series, because the moment you see fucking Matthew Broderick on the screen, you wanna knock his block off. Why did they hire him off all people? The token Roger Hebert, and Gene Siskel characters are more than likely intentionally annoying, and Audrey...oh my God Audrey and the rest of the news channel characters in this movie just suck. They. Suck. I honestly believe their role in this movie was meant for a completely different story at times, as their interactions with other characters kinda just seem to drop the fact that there's a 100 foot tall radioactive lizard tromping all over New York City.

But when they're not on screen, the movie can be a fun watch. The action of this movie is very well done. Even if you're looking at scenes that borrowed heavily from other films from Alien to Jurassic Park, I find myself having a lot of fun watching the monster run through the streets of New York, outsmarting helicopters, and causing all sorts of havoc. I enjoy watching our protagonists trying not to get eaten alive by the hundreds of infant monsters in the ruined Madison Square Garden. But this action isn't backed by all that impressive of a story. While I will say that their reimagining of the origins of "Godzilla" can be very fun, bringing up comparisons to things like Chernobyl and whatnot, once that initial first wonder is done, very little can hold this story up. The middle acts can drag and be rather uninteresting. Again, the character interaction between Nick and Audrey can be very...off putting. It doesn't belong in this movie. In fact...I hate any scene that features only Audrey. She just complains about how she isn't treated fairly by her boss, or cries when she messes up Nick's reputation with the army. The political side of Herbert and Siskel is laughable at how pointless it is. You could literally cut it from the film and nothing would be different. I think Roland just wanted to give the finger to two of the best film critics out there who weren't impressed by his films...but they weren't even killed in the movie. Good job there Roland. And with little interesting story, the film quickly becomes its own excuse to blow up every NYC landmark it can. The Chrysler Building, Metlife building, Madison Square Garden, the Brooklyn Bridge...I'm surprised half the buildings remained standing in this film. This brings up point number two that I've been getting...where people say I didn't like Shin Gojira because it wasn't just explosions and nonstop action. Well compare that to this movie which kinda just...is that at times, and you find that I'm still not too impressed. The only thing I've really complimented this film on is the decently original beginning parts of the story. Before it just becomes a big cliché. The only reason I liked that is because it was competent enough and told well enough to keep my attention. Shin Gojira focused roughly 75% of its story telling to people sitting around tables. Tell me how that is good story telling for a two hour movie. Just try.

With as many problems as there are in this movie...I'm surprised I don't really bash it too much. Well there's a reason. I think the movie can be an entertaining watch from time to time. Take away the obvious problems, overlook atrocious characters, and focus on the actual decent elements in this story that pop up from time to time, then throw in a pretty decent musical score by David Arnold, and you actually have a decent monster movie. But that's the key word there. MONSTER movie. That's not what this movie was supposed to be. The title is Godzilla. When you put that as your title, there will be expectations, and nearly all of those expectations were absent in this film. Which is why I'll be honest and say I'm surprised so many seem to like Shin Gojira. It can tackle all the problems this movie tackled 18 years earlier. Differences in origins, monster design, hell...the military actually makes Godzilla bleed a lot in the new film. And that's just on the monster alone. I won't even get into how forgettable those characters are. The characters of this movie may be bad, but at least they're memorably bad enough to make an impression.

Godzilla is a movie I find very hard to rate. It's not good. But it's far from the worst. I doubt I'll ever really see anything worse than Godzilla's Revenge in this franchise. But for what this movie was...it wasn't a bad monster film. In fact, it can be a lot of fun...as a monster movie. If it had any other title, I'd be tempted to rate it a strong three stars out of four. But the title holds it back. When you call your movie Godzilla, there will be expectations. Expectations this movie failed to meet. And so while not the worst, I cannot rate it higher than a two out of four stars. It's...average. Maybe even slightly below it. But not nearly enough to annoy me in ways other Godzilla films have. I actually kinda commend this film in a lot of ways. It gave us a good monster  even if it is the butt of everyone's jokes in the Godzilla fandom. But plain and simple, this movie isn't worthy of the title it bears and doesn't earn it. It's a damn shame because if this were to be renamed...Beast from 10,000 Fathoms...it would have faired so much better. It follows that movie much more faithfully than Godzilla. But it doesn't have that title...and therefore suffers.

Well there you go...I hope I've made my criticisms of Shin Gojira a bit clearer to those who disagree. Though I know deep down a lot of you probably won't get it still. Toho isn't perfection to me and never will be. They'll make mistakes as any other movie company will. I certainly hope their future Godzilla projects will be better, but if you'll remember right...I said that at times, this movie had more going for it than Shin Gojira. I know, how dare I. I'm sure that angered a lot of the fanboys but what can you do? They keep the fandoms alive, and they aren't going anywhere. I can admire the passion many of you have for Godzilla, and tip my hat to you...I just hope I can make my stance on things clearer in the future and whatnot.

Please feel free to suggest any movies you'd like for me to review. Leave a comment down below explaining what you thought of this movie, and as always...thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 2/4

REVIEW: Independence Day: Resurgence

Walking into the theater, there was one thing I knew this movie would need to address. In the very first film, there is a scene in which the President addresses an alien at Area 51, and experiences a form of a mental telepathic attack. After this attack, he says that he saw into their thoughts and how they lived. By moving their entire society from planet to planet, consuming every last available natural resource before moving into the next planet. Well if that's true, then by some measure of standards, this sequel shouldn't exist. We won. We foiled an alien invasion with the heroic sacrifice of Randy Quaid, a computer virus, and a good old fashioned can of whoop-ass. And I called it one of the funnest alien invasion movies you can see. So...do they address this plot point? Did they make this sequel worthwhile?

Well...if I'm gonna be brutally honest, no they kinda didn't. But it's still the fun you'd expect from Roland Emmerich. Right off the bat as the opening logos fade away, you are treated to a visual experience, one which almost makes me wanna recommend a 3D viewing of the film, as the visuals can at times be absolutely incredible to watch, from the exciting action, to alien drone swarms, to the backgrounds themselves. But as far as actual storyline, character, and overall enjoyability is concerned, Independence Day: Resurgence falls short of its predecessor. Now granted, the first film is no masterpiece, but the simplicity in that movie, the fact that it knows not to take itself too seriously, the clichés that it pulls off yet somehow gets away with, make it a very enjoyable film for me. Add a kickass soundtrack to that, and it's a movie I will continue to defend, despite its flaws. 

Enter Resurgence. I will go ahead and give a bit of a warning, I may talk MINOR spoilers here. I don't usually talk spoilers, but in this case...I'm not too worried. Literally two decades later, we are given surprisingly very little as to what has happened since the "War of '96". While we do get a bit of a background as to what's been going on since then, it's very brief.  We figure out that Will SMith's character was killed in that time period, we get that we've adapted the alien technology of our own, and that the world has been united in peace since the aliens first attacked us.  We've got orbital defenses (which honestly kinda do jack shit in this movie, surprise surprise), there's a lot of tribute paying to the heroes of 1996, and life is good. Then the aliens come back...again, they kinda address that we knew they'd be back, despite them saying that they attack planets as a society. But at the same time, this little detail is kinda glanced over. Thus begins...a very confusing story honestly.

The first Independence Day has a simple story that has been told before, but tells it in its own unique way that is fun and followable.  Here, I found the beginning of this movie dragging on itself, and even when things started to happen, I found it hard to follow.  Maybe I just gotta see it again, but they don't do a very good job of passing the torch for a new generation.  I am getting the feeling that Independence Day is trying to do what Star Wars did back in December. Reboot something for a younger audience.  The thing is, none of the newer characters are that memorable enough to warrant it. So many of them are forgettable. The stereotypes are even blander than the first film, and we barely get time to know any of these characters.  From a guy who kills aliens for a living...to this guy who literally no one likes, who manages to get maybe five minutes of glory in the film. Good job rookie. Hell, even some of the older characters that appear didn't even need to be here.  Like David's father. You know, the Jewish stereotype from the first movie.  What the heck is he doing in this film? His role serves absolutely no purpose to the story. He could have been killed off, or cut from the film entirely, and the story would literally be no different. Honestly, the only two characters that I found even remotely likable in this film were Brent Spiner, and Jeff Goldblum's characters, which I'm sorry to say, I can't exactly remember Brent Spiner's character name. I was actually surprised to see him in this film, as the first film gives you the idea that his character was killed. 

Another disappointing thing about Resurgence is that the soundtrack...is nowhere NEAR on par with that of the first film. I kinda saw this coming.  Much respect to Harold Kloser, he did fantastic music for "The Day After Tomorrow", but I don't think Independence Day is exactly his strongsuit here. While the soundtrack has its moments, there is nothing that really carries the scene, like David Palmer's score does in the first film. Sure you hear the classic theme at the end credits, and a couple times in the film, but it seems a bit out of place. The soundtrack of the first film pushes forward that the film is meant to be taken lightly, and strictly for fun.  This seems more like a serious alien invasion film, and Roland Emmerich, I love the guy, but he's not capable of doing that.  And with a subplot that I won't give away here in this movie, which is just baiting for yet another sequel at the end of this film, I'm not sure I exactly like where this series is going. The final words of this film are literally "We're going to be kicking some serious alien ass." Right there, they might as well put in bold letering "See you in Independence Day 3! Right after we do an unnecessary reboot of the Stargate film!" 

I may be hampering down on this film, as if I hate it, but truth is, I don't. As I said, Roland Emmerich's mastery of visual effects is still present. When we see the action, it can be absolutely mind blowing at times.  The alien's field of gravity, altering that of objects in it's vicinity (which seems improbable, but it looks gorgeous) is absolutely mind boggling. The combat, both in the air and on the ground is as fun as it always was and towards the end, I got feelings that I would get from watching a Godzilla movie. When the action gets going in this film, we can finally get that sense of light-hearted fun that the first movie portrays.  It's just a damn shame that those moments just aren't nearly as present as they are in the first film. Maybe the charm of Will Smith really WAS needed here?  I may be putting too much thought into this movie.  Maybe I wasn't exactly fully prepared to see this movie in the way that I should have.  I guess I like Independence Day to the point where getting this sequel was something I expected Roland to hit dead on target.  I mean...this is something he has a lot of fun ideas with. Lately, he's been trying to hammer home films that touch on global warming or homosexual issues, and he's missing the target.  Seeing him go back into the territory that he's good at, and missing the target at times, makes me wonder if the guy needs to take a break.  I don't know.  

Independence Day: Resurgence scores a two and a half star rating out of four for me. The action and visuals carry the film where the story, and characters do not. But the overall story is forgettable, and the fact that it is just begging for a sequel just makes me slightly annoyed. I know this sequel wasn't needed, but we should have seen it coming. I was hoping for something along the lines of likability in the first film, and while I enjoyed it for what it was, it needed more of the magic the first film had.  Whether that was better music, stronger characters, a more familiar story...whatever it was. If you were to ask me if you should see it right away?  Honestly that would depend. If you want a good action movie with little story, sure, go ahead.  If you're hoping for a worthy sequel, I'd save the money. Rent it or see it in a cheaper theater. It breaks my heart to say that, but if Roland expects me to be merciful just because he's a bit of a guilty pleasure for me...he's gonna have to impress me with this upcoming sequel that we'll probably see in a few years...don't let me down Roland.

Please feel free to suggest any movies for me to have a look at down below. Leave a comment describing your own thoughts on the film, and as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 2.5/4

THROWBACK REVIEW: Independence Day

This week, we get a sequel, granted none of us really asked for, but will probably go see anyway, because it'll probably be boatloads of fun. I've said it before, but director Roland Emmerich is a director I call a huge guilty pleasure. He is by no means, a guy who crafts a masterpiece, but I don't think anyone can deny he has a lot of fun ideas, and a lot of fun movies. Whether it was the 1994 sci-fi film "Stargate", the 2004 disaster movie "The Day After Tomorrow", the 2013 shoot'em up thriller "White House Down", heck some of you, myself included might even find some fun in his reimagining of 1998's "Godzilla".  And I'm sure a lot of us find his classic fourth of july alien shoot-em up movie, "Independence Day" as a popcorn classic to pop in and just enjoy around this time of the year.  Why is this?  Who knows?  Nearly every movie by Roland Emmerich that I've seen, (all of the above, plus "The Patriot", and "2012") have something in them to enjoy.  They are all predictable, clichéd, silly, dumb fun.   And "Independence Day: Resurgence" will be no different. I'm looking forward to it none the less.  So let's take another look at the movie that started it all.

The first time I saw this movie was ironically enough, when I was in high school I believe. I'd not seen it in theaters, and it wasn't in our family movie collection.  I saw Day After Tomorrow before I saw Independence Day. And well...when I finally got the chance, I loved it. Of course, I've since grown up a bit and am able to tell for the most part what makes a movie good or bad.  I mainly look at the factor of my enjoyment.  And Independence Day is absolutely full of enjoyment, even amongst it's many many...many flaws in it's black and white character stereotypes, predictable elements of storytelling, and overdramatic clichéd reveals. The story is one that's been told a hundred times before, of aliens who come from billions of light-years away, all the way out to Earth, out in the middle of nowhere, and decide to exterminate the human race. The story has been told for decades, the only difference is that this one takes place on the Fourth of July.

But I will give the movie credit, where credit is due, it tells it in it'sown fun little way, that makes the film a blast to watch from beginning to end.  Even when the film falls on its face, there's something to enjoy.  For one thing, the ways we are introduced to the multiple characters in this movie is by no means, that good.  Right off the bat, we all see that stereotype they are meant to signify.  And if the characters aren't two dimensional enough, the story itself gives you so many of the typical plot elements in your typical alien invasion story, that you wonder if they even tried to write something original.  From a drunken redneck pilot who claims to have been kidnapped by aliens years ago (and may or may not be right in this movie), to aliens moving to exterminate all life on this land, to Area 51 of all things. There are some silly things in this movie that may make you rub your head a bit, but with how fun it's all executed, you can't help but just keep watching. Some of the performances of these characters, as goofy as some can be are actually very fun to watch.  Brent Spiner outside his normal role as Data is an absolute riot at times. And Dr. Ian Malcom...I mean Jeff Goldblum is a riot when you catch him acting just like his Jurassic Park role.  I mean come on, he straight up says a line straight from the movie. And of course there's the always likable Will Smith, who can just carry the show at times. Paired with Jeff, they can be downright funny. And of course you got Bill Pullman, responsible for delivering the most likable cheesiest movie scene in American Cinema history. 

On the legitly good aspects of this movie, the effects strangely still hold up. I'm not even kidding either. When you see the alien ships, as bland as they look, raining their destructive beams down on major cities all across the globlee, from New York City, to Washington D.C., it is just something you sit back and enjoy from start to finish. Yeah, even in these scenes they manage to practically invent the "save te dog" cliché, and throw in some levels of goofiness, but the wall of flame is still very cool to watch. And the action, oh my God, the action. Watching fighter jets taking on swarms of alien fighters is nothing short of absolute fun. DUring these scenes, you can feel the excitement in your chair, and at times you will actually feel like you are in the scene itself.  If you manage to do that with me, you get massive points. I love immersive scenes like that. And the music that backs these scenes up is absolutely incredible.  I must give a huge props to David Arnold for his musical score. ESPECIALLY during the last fight.  THe pacing and heroic tones that music has gives me chills down my spine.

All in all, there's a lot of good, and a lot of bad things about Independence Day that are pretty much universally known by this point, but what makes Independence Day so special is the fact that it pretty much knows how to tell a good alien invasion story, without taking itself too seriously.  It doesn't need to be on the levels of things like District 9 in order to be enjoyed.  Every goofy aspect, every laughable line, every silly character fits nearly perfectly in this silly movie, and though critics are divided, I think most of us can say, "Hey, there's something to enjoy in this movie." And when the film hits the target, it really does shine in ways that make it more unique than other alien flicks. To date, I cannot think of any other go-to alien shoot-em up movie that I'd rather see. I only enjoy it more each time I see it, I always find something to criticize or praise whenever I see it, and you can bet your ass I'm looking foward to seeing the undoubtedly silly sequel that comes out in only a few days.

Independence Day scores a three star rating out of four. Despite it's many faults, which can at times be somewhat annoying to the point where you're wondering if that really happened, the fun that this film is most successful at portraying will make you forget most annoyances. It's an alien invasion film with the title Independence Day, I think we all should know what to expect. It's Roland Emmerich. It isn't gonna be a masterpiece by any means, but man does he know how to entertain the masses. If you're one of the few out there who hasn't given this movie a chance?  If you're into sci-fi, check it out if you're in the mood for one of the funnest films out there in the genre. It's got plenty of action, plenty of humor, and plenty of aliens. And it's probably one of the most American movies I can think of. Coming from a German director, I think that's the best irony out there.

Feel free to request a movie for me to review in the near future. Leave a comment down below expressing what you think of the film, and as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 3/4

REVIEW: The Patriot (2000)

Hello, and happy....belated fourth of July to you.  I apologize I couldn't get this out sooner, but life happens.  Let's look at The Patriot".  As a critic, you learn that not everybody will will like or respect your opinion (especially if you're talking about video games), but you gradually just learn to accept that fact.  You also realize that it's okay to have guilty pleasures.  And no director has taught me that more than director, Roland Emmerich.  Just take a look at some of his films, "Stargate", "Independence Day", "The Day After Tomorrow", each are clichéd, predictable, not particularly strong movies, but my God are they fun.  There's a certain magic behind Roland Emmerich's films.  Whenever you sit down to watch them, you know what you're going to get.  You're going to get a silly, over-the-top, special effect filled ride that will leave you begging for more.  These films are not particularly strong, and they are by no means films that are going to win "Best Picture of the Year", but each one has some form of enjoyability, at least the ones I've seen.  Even his films like "2012" (which is my least liked Emmerich film to date) and "Godzilla" of all films have something to enjoy.  Heck, his take on that latter film is actually one of my biggest guilty pleasures as a hardcore Godzilla fan no less...but that's a review for another day.

Let's look at the Patriot.  It's full of everything an Emmerich film has, from impressive special effects, to a predictable, yet fun story, to...glorifying the American Nation in ways Michael Bay will never succeed in, but we'll talk about that later.  The film takes place duing the years of the Revolutionary War, and centers on our main protagonist, Benjamin Martin (played by Mel Gibson), and his family, who live in Colonial America, which is in the midst of fully declaring Independence from Britain.  His sons appear to be fully suppportive of the war with Britain, while Benjamin, haunted by the horrors he witnessed in the French-Indian Wars, not so much. You can already see that Benjamin is going to be the Hero of the movie, the game changer.  The man with the plan.  You can argue this is only predictable because the ovie poster portrays him riding a majestic steed, carrying the flag of our forefathers against a fiery sun, but regardless, the way the dialogue plays out between him and his sons, you know that no matter how many times he implies how he is finished fighting, he's gonna return to the battlefield.

You can also pinpoint out who is gonna die.  This is really easy in this movie.  When I saw the eldest son enlisting, I already knew he was as good as dead.  I will admit, that he survived much longer than I expected, but he died. Sorry for the easy spoiler. But I gotta say that even though he survived longer than I thought he would, he barely contributed to the story in any way.  He's not by any means the worst character in the world, but a good part of the middle of the movie focuses on him and his love interest in a childhood friend.  They of course end up getting married in the film, but honestly, the chemistry I don't think is really there.  We see them reminisce over a childhood memory or two, but aside from that, there is very little development or bonding between these two characters.  So when eventually they kill off the wife in a rather...well...unpleasant way, I didn't find myself caring too much.  THe love came, they tried to enforce it with a marriage, then they killed it off ten minutes later.  And I was there wondering when the next battle was gonna happen.  

However I think the biggest thing that got to me in this film, wasn't the inaccuracies of history (Historical fiction is fiction.  I don't mind small changes they made to the historical figures too much), it was the way the British armies were portrayed.  Most significant British troopers in this film were depicted as either heartless jerks with no sense of honor, or snobbish headstrong soldiers...like Cornwallis.  I'm not gonna pretend to be some expert on history, but there were so many ways I feel that Cornwallis was depicted in this film that felt off to me.  I could be mistaken, but he felt off.  But at least he wasn't like Col. Tavington in this film, who felt no remorse for killing defenseless wounded soldiers, or burning a church filled with civilians.  It was this demonizing of the British Army that just rubbed off on the wrong way to me.  I'm not British, so I wasn't offended, but it felt wrong.  Then again, Roland is one to glorify the American Nation, despite ironically being a German director.

Roland tends to make the Americans always come out on top, but lead the way to victory.  You see it in "Independence Day", "Godzilla", "The Day After Tomorrow", you name it, he does it, and it's no different here.  Thing is a lot of the time, he tends to show everything in his movies as a united society.  Whatever happens brings society together.  Touching.  I like it.  The American colonists in this movie are brought together nder one flag, and they fight against tyranny, while being aided by their French allies.  Roland certainly knows how to show the American nation in pride in his movies.  Michael Bay could take a few lessons from him, you know instead of j ust putting in 200 American flags in one scene, and calling himself a patriot (no pun intended).

And the fight against tyanny brings me to one of the better things this movie does get right, the action. THe battle scenes in this movie are phenominal.  From overlooks of colonists fighting British troops, to Benjamin fighting off a party of troops almost singlehandedly.  The action can get a little over-the-top (American flag impaling a horse anyone?), but it still doesn't at all negate the fun in this film.  The fights can be few, but you just can't seem to leave because you know each fight will be better than the last.

All in all, "TThe Patriot" is likely gonna be added to that ever growing list of guilty pleasures from Roland Emmerich for me.  It's still nothing strong, but when Roland knows he's just in it to entertain, he knows how to do it.  This film is entertaining.  Beyond that at times even.  A fun spectacle, and in a world with not so many films about the Revolutionary War, it was fun to experience something somewhat different.  Sure it wasn't historically accurate by any means, but the few things that this film did that didn't go well with me, I can forgive.  It's Roland Emmerich.

"The Patriot" is a solid three out of four stars for me.  It might have gotten a slightly higher score if the movie was maybe a little shorter, and didn't focus so much on certain forgettable elements in the film, but the main story at least keeps your attention, and of course the action never ceases to amaze.  It was a fun film to watch for Independence Day weekend, and I'm glad I watched it.  And I'm eager to share a few more opinions on some guilty pleasures in film that I have, but for now, I will just say I hope you all had a great Independence Day this year (sorry it's so late from me) and I hope you may consider watching this popcorn film about America's fight for freedom, maybe as a bucket film next year for the holiday.

And as always, thanks for reading.

Final Verdict: 3/4