A ho-hum drama thriller which uses OUTBREAK as the basis for its plot and wastes the martial arts talents of star Steven Seagal. Any fan looking for Seagal's usual brand of bone-breaking action will be sorely disappointed by the total lack of fighting in this movie. Action is limited to one or two brief sequences and the rest of this long, long film is taken up with moralising, Native American mythology, and plenty of uninteresting dialogue. Imagine the less-than-satisfying ON DEADLY GROUND: a movie full of action, let down by some boring environmental stuff. Now swap that ratio around: a movie full of boring mundaneness, with only a few moments of action. Now you'll realise how disappointing a film THE PATRIOT is for big man Seagal and why it's his weakest movie to date.
The list of flaws is an endless one. The plot is silly and contrived, the in-your-face moralising is annoying and preachy. The production values make the film look cheap and poor editing in what few action scenes there are means that it all happens too fast to see what's going on. No arms or legs are broken and the only real bit of violence (aside from some shooting) is a satisfying death involving the jagged stem of a wine glass and a man's ear. The characters are one-dimensional and the acting poor, especially from the rather dull villains who don't even do the good thing by chewing the scenery. The only familiar performer is old-timer L. Q. Jones who is wasted in a nothing part as one of those old men Seagal likes to hang around with. As for Seagal, despite looking ridiculous (glasses + shoulder length bushy hair + bright red sweat don't go) in his most overweight performance, puts in his typically gruff yet friendly part and is the best actor in the film (so you know you're in trouble). Not sure what kind of market the producers of this tosh were hoping to aim at - as an action film it's totally hopeless, as an ecological thriller it's predictable and clichéd. Any way you look at it, THE PATRIOT is a film to be avoided at all costs.
The list of flaws is an endless one. The plot is silly and contrived, the in-your-face moralising is annoying and preachy. The production values make the film look cheap and poor editing in what few action scenes there are means that it all happens too fast to see what's going on. No arms or legs are broken and the only real bit of violence (aside from some shooting) is a satisfying death involving the jagged stem of a wine glass and a man's ear. The characters are one-dimensional and the acting poor, especially from the rather dull villains who don't even do the good thing by chewing the scenery. The only familiar performer is old-timer L. Q. Jones who is wasted in a nothing part as one of those old men Seagal likes to hang around with. As for Seagal, despite looking ridiculous (glasses + shoulder length bushy hair + bright red sweat don't go) in his most overweight performance, puts in his typically gruff yet friendly part and is the best actor in the film (so you know you're in trouble). Not sure what kind of market the producers of this tosh were hoping to aim at - as an action film it's totally hopeless, as an ecological thriller it's predictable and clichéd. Any way you look at it, THE PATRIOT is a film to be avoided at all costs.