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Rating: 4 out of 5
“Yes, I’ve heard. Kills men by the hundreds. And if HE were here, he’d consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse.”
Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Wallace helped defeat an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge and was appointed Guardian of Scotland and served until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. For his treason against the crown, Wallace was captured and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him hanged, drawn, and quartered.
Braveheart is a film directed and starring Mel Gibson as the title character. The film was inspired by Blind Harry’s (what a name right here) 15th-century epic poem The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie. The movie tells the story of the legendary thirteenth-century Scottish hero named William Wallace. Wallace is taken from his home by his uncle at a young age after his father dies in battle. When Wallace is a man, he comes back home. He falls in love with the beautiful Murron even though there is a law that would significantly affect their relationship. When tragedy hits, Wallace takes his vengeance along with rallying the Scottish against the evil English monarch Edward 1 (McGoohan) and their pursuit for freedom. Wallace’s army soon grows, catching the eye of all the nobles in Scotland as they try to obtain the Scottish crown from themselves. Will Scotland ever gain its freedom?
As you researched more on William Wallace, you find that most of his life was based on myth and a poem. Listen, I’m not going to dwell on the historical facts and accuracy of a person’s life. This is a movie, and I will base this review on what I saw and felt from watching this film. Braveheart is one of blood, violence, revolution, and straight-up being a gangster sometimes but also love.
The film’s plot is one of love, vengeance, and then doing something bigger than yourself. The people of Scotland are under the tyrannical rule of England. It’s the classic tale of an oppressed people and the people who are oppressed, deciding that they are nothing more than trash to them. You can only keep people down for so long until they rise up. In Braveheart, the spark that sets the Scots off is when Longshanks declares nobles will have sexual rights on every common girl during her wedding night. That’s fucked up. Giving your wife up and you gotta just stand there and watch. Things were cool when Wallace and Murron married, but when she was captured, and her throat was slit, it set off a revolution because Wallace was doing his Drake and looking for revenge. That is pretty much the plot. Wallace raises an army and joins some other nobles to get freedom. His whole mission changed from getting revenge to not being under England’s rule.
I’ll get to the fighting and violence in a second, but you want to talk about the political backstabbing in this film; there seems to be a ton of it. It seemed to slow down the film significantly as one wanted to see the violence, but it was needed. First, Scotland has no king, and everyone and their mom wants to claim the throne. The film shows the bickering between the nobles. Even Robert the Bruce on daddy backstabs and schemes against everyone to get his son on the throne. Longshank had his politics by marrying his son to a princess in France to strengthen that alliance. It went all around. Hell, Longshanks bribed Lochlan and Mornay to betray Wallace for more land and titles. What happened after Wallace found out? Monray dreams of Wallace riding to him through fire like a demon. He thinks it’s a dream when Wallace comes on a freakin horse and destroys his face with a ball and chain when he wakes up. Lochlan is killed when his body is dropped in front of the betrayer Robert the Bruce. Speaking of which, how does Wallace say unite the clans, and you like naw homie, I’m going to betray you and hope for the best. You should’ve died also. Then had the nerve to have tears in your eyes. You just a punk.
Now it’s time to talk about the violence and battle scenes. They were intense since each person had to get close and personal. You will see limbs dropping and legs cut off. The film doesn’t hold back, and that is a great thing. Yet, you also see the brilliance of Wallace and the Scots as they go up against a mighty force and win a couple of battles. The iconic one is when Wallace has that blue paint on, and people talk about the tales about him. I like that many of the battles are not two armies approaching each other. Wallace does resort to guerilla tactics because the man is of the land and might as well have your people do anything possible to win.
One of the best highlights of this film is the cinematography. Damn, man, it really made me what to see Scotland. Looking at the mountains, when Wallace ran up one, the land looked so beautiful. Also, how the battles were shot made you seem like you were right there swinging a sword or dodging one.
Now for the cast. First, we MUST talk about Mel Gibson. Gibson brought his game first as the director. To have an eye and tell a story makes this movie worthwhile. When Gibson’s mind is right, dude can direct some incredible films. He really knows how to tell a story, and this one he won the Academy Award for in directing. Gibson also played double duty with being the lead role. He was good and didn’t even get nominated for wearing that blue paint, but he did show Wallace as an intense person but also one who is very educated. The best scene that shows this is when Wallace meets with Isabel. Isabel and her handler talk in French, thinking that Wallace didn’t know the language until he started conversating in French and then switched the game up with speaking in Latin. That’s a boss right there.
Some of the supporting cast was also good in this film. Angus Macfadyen as Robert the Bruce was decent. To me, he was a punk bitch. He wanted the crown but couldn’t decide if he wanted to be respected or trifling. In the end, you finally grow a pair of balls and stand up to your daddy. Patrick McGoohan as King Edward “Longshanks” was a freakin terror. I read that he wasn’t as evil in the movie, but the dude played no games. The laws he made were unruly, and he was a strategic wizard who cared very little for his own men. The dude slapped around his son like a doll. Sophie Marceau, as Princess Isabella of France, was gorgeous. She cared for everyone and should’ve just stabbed her husband and King Edward. Yet, she went the other route and had that baby juice in her body by another man to ensure the Edward line ended. Straight gangsta! Real quick. My favorite character was David O’Hara as Stephen of Ireland. The dude was crazy, insane, but loyal as hell. You want a dude like that in your fox hole any day of the week.
Braveheart is one of those films that makes you want to visit Scotland. Is the film one of the Best Picture Winners ever made? Naw, not really, but it is very entertaining and has that war violence. Gibson is great as the lead actor and with his eye behind the camera. Enjoy the story of William Wallace, the man who can shoot lightning bolts from his ass.
