In The Patriot, Mel Gibson plays a Revolutionary War Era farm owner who's a little like Dr. David Banner from The Incredible Hulk -- you don't want to make him angry.

The year is 1776, the place is South Carolina, and Mel is a widower caring for a gaggle of kids -- in short, he's a man with no interest in killing Red Coats. That is until the Brits kill one of his sons and burn down his house. All this makes him rather mad, and as many a movie bad guy has learned, making Mel Gibson mad can get you killed. And this time around, a lot of people get killed as Mel becomes sort of a Revolutionary War version of Rambo -- practically winning the war singlehandedly.

Mel assembles a loyal band of rebels who gain the upper hand on King George's men through cleverness and guile -- in other words -- they cheat. The Brits fight the war according to a set of rules, marching and fighting in neat, orderly lines. Mel's Yanks ambush and attack from all directions and seeing them use good ol' fashioned American ingenuity to open can after can of whuppass on the Red Coats sure is a crowd pleaser.

It's even more pleasing since the British are portrayed as so evil (they shouldn't even bother releasing this film in the U.K.). The main villain, Col. William Tavington, is so diabolically wicked that all that's missing is a white cat for him to stroke as he delivers his lines. Jason Isaacs is quite good in the role -- he really creates a character you love to hate.

In fact, you end-up loving much of this movie, despite yourself. You know it's manipulative and melodramatic -- but somehow you get sucked in by all the flag waving euphoria anyway. The movie isn't subtle, either. This is a film where Mel melts down his murdered son's toy soldiers and turns them into bullets -- in another scene, Mel charges into a wall of oncoming Red Coats with an American flag raised high. Not much subtle about that at all.

But that lack of subtlety does get your adrenaline pumping. It's essentially Braveheart without the Scottish accents. Which is to say -- it's a kick-ass war movie about freedom fighters with some amazingly intense battle scenes. Director Roland Emmerich does an excellent job of staging the sequences with style, ferocity and clarity. Perhaps he's learned from some of the mistakes he made in helming ID4 and Godzilla. Ironic, isn't it -- an Australian star and a German director team up to make a feel good movie about American patriotism. Go figure.

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