The Patriot

The Patriot (nothing to do with the Mel Gibson film of the same name) came out Steven Seagal was still doing that 'saving the environment' thing in his movies. Which is fine. But it doesn't make for good action.

When the plot(?) of this film finally kicked in I saw the twist(?) coming a mile off. Seagal's anti-warfare, care-for-mother-nature stance is not very subtle. For a film that was originally going to debut in the cinemas it is shot very much like a TV movie despite some wonderful shots of the country by Dean Semler, the photographer of Dances with Wolves.

Steven Seagal does like 1 fight scene in the entire film and it's totally boring. As an action film it fails, as a drama it stinks, as an environmental message it's obvious. Avoid like Ebola crossed with plague.

Wesley McClaren leaves the biological division of the CIA to become a small town doctor. When a group of American terrorists release a toxin into the air, it mutates and the vaccine becomes useless. McClaren becomes trapped in the town with the terrorists in a race to find a new vaccine. However when his daughter seems to be beating the toxin the terrorists decide to use her blood as a vaccine and McClaren is forced to protect her while seeking an alternative cure.

This is yet another Seagal film where he preaches about his beliefs and promotes Native American culture etc. The down side of this is that it tends to overpower the action scenes - for example the last 10 minutes of `On Deadly Ground' was Seagal giving a lecture on big businesses impact on the environment. Here Seagal is battling a virus, so there's even less action - they wheel the terrorists in in an attempt to give Seagal some real people to fight. However there are no really good action scenes - which are the only thing Seagal can do well. In the place of action we have Seagal telling off scientists for storing diseases, telling everyone about the benefits of Native American ways etc. This makes the film feel very dull and wordy and I really wanted more action - but there just wasn't the chance for fights.

Seagal isn't very good. He's looking old and podgy and less suited to the all round action man. The huge amount of talking scenes highlights Seagal's weaknesses as an actor. The terrorist leader is poor, but it is interesting to see LQ Jones (A Boy and His Dog) as Frank. However Seagal is really stretched.

Overall this is poor - the threat of biological warfare is an interesting, emotive subject, but here it's hard to be interested due to Seagal forcing it down out throats. And the ending is hard to swallow and typical of Seagal's blind love for all things Native American.

There are only three movies that have shown Steven Seagal can act and this is one of them. Along with "Fire Down Below," and "The Glimmer Man" Seagal has shown he has talent.

Though there is not that much action, "The Patriot" is the best film because it means that the supporting cast along with Seagal must come together to pull off a winner.

I enjoyed everything about this film from the plot, casting and pace of the movie.

I was completely impressed by the performance of Camilia Belle who portrayed the daughter because she was a breath of fresh air to Hollywood even though she was in other films.

This is worth everyone's attention because Steven Seagal has finally made a movie that is tolerable and can be watched in comfort with the knowledge that it will not be boring.

I give "The Patriot" an 8 out of 10.

I've just seen the Patriot, released directly to Sky television in the UK I was expecting a really bad film, but I enjoyed it.

Okay it may not be as action packed as his earlier movies but if you watch this film in its own right rather than an unofficial Under Seige part III then i think it stands up very well.

As to someone's point that the action was just "tagged on" rubbish, I thought it was relevant to the story at that point.

The Patriot is getting a lot of bad reviews from fans because of its lack of action. But The Patriot is suppose to be a vehicle to show that Seagal can really act, and I am happy to report that the guy is a really good actor. The plot is about the outbreak of a deadly virus in a small town. I am a big fan of Steven Seagal and I like the way he has been picking his movies. Fire Down Below was better than his prior films "On Deadly Grounds" and "The Glimmer Man" because of its slick directing and editing, and his cameo in "My Giant" was hilarious. The Patriot ranks with "Above the Law", "Marked for Death", "Under Siege", "Fire Down Below" and "Executive Decision" as one of his best films. I personally can't wait till his film version of Genghis Khan comes out. I give this one a solid 9/10