This is by no means a bad effort in the historical epic genre, since Gibson has made himself into a more than passable director and, for the battles of Stirling Bridge and Falkirk alone, deserves an Oscar of some sort.
A lavish, entertaining spectacle full of manly men, dastardly villains, rousing battles and women who easily see Mel's hero potential through all that messy hair.
Braveheart is a stouthearted, old-fashioned hero movie in which honorable Scottish underdogs fight nasty British nobles. It lacks refinement, but it's a satisfying war story (and mediocre love story) in the grand Hollywood tradition.
The screenplay says repeatedly that thinking is more important than fighting, yet problems are always met with muscle-power in the movie, which wallows in violence and vengeance every chance it gets.
As the star of the new, epic-scaled Braveheart, Gibson celebrates yet another man of selfless valor. And as its director, he displays some daring of his own.
