Pros: Acting by Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, visuals
Cons: Amateur screenplay, cheap CGI, no character development, completely predictable plot, overuse of editing and special effects in fight sequences, overindulgent soundtrack.
Major Cast
Russell Crowe -- Maximus
Joaquin Phoenix -- Commodus
Connie Nielsen -- Lucilla
Oliver Reed -- Proximo
Derek Jacobi -- Gracchus
Djimon Hounsou -- Juba
Richard Harris -- Marcus Aurelius
Gladiator can aptly be called the first summer movie of the year 2000, meaning that it is mindless and designed for the lowest common denominator. Just as Oliver Reed says in this final movie of his career, "Entertainment has frequently been used by leaders as a means to distract an abused citizenry," this film does little else except serve as a harmless 2.5-hour distraction. Do not expect to be historically enlightened or uplifted. If that is what you want, rent Spartacus or Ben-Hur instead.
I am sure that this movie will recoup its 103 million-dollar investment. Word of mouth will spread about the cool battle scenes; besides, it's been over 30 years since the last great Biblical/Roman epic pictures, and the pre-release buzz about the film has been outstanding. I know that I've been anticipating Gladiator more than any other summer film. After all, I love the old epic films -- Spartacus, Ben-Hur, Quo Vadis. I even saw Barabbas a couple of times when it was the free dormitory flick at the University of Illinois.
Plot Redux
The plot of Gladiator is very much like the old classics with a slight twist. Actually, it is similar to The Ten Commandments, as we start with a Roman General who is the favored successor of the aging emperor. Maximus is sentenced to die but miraculously escapes, loses his family, descends into slavery, becomes a gladiator, and fights his way through the competition to finally meet his original enemy. Thus, we've seen the plot numerous times. You will have to decide whether the new wrappings and special effects are worth seeing.
Visual Effects
If you like special effects, you may really enjoy the eye candy that director Ridley Scott has tossed into Gladiator. There are some nice pictures of clouds that reminded me of My Private Idaho, often coming before walks in the wheat field as we enter a dreamlike preview of Maximus' family in the afterlife. The Teutonic mud war with the flame throwers in the opening scenes is also pretty spectacular and sometimes impressionistic, and the large Coliseum looks very grand despite being an obvious computer generated image.
Conversely, I also saw great many problems with some of the computer-generated effects. One was a scene that was filmed in Morocco of a smaller Coliseum that has some cheesy, fake birds encircling it. Plus, I didn't care for all the fast editing, cartoon violence that occurs with the supposedly "bloody" battle scenes. The pace reminded me of Natural Born Killers while the effects themselves almost cried out as modern impersonations of the old Batman television series. I also became irritated with the over-the-top musical score that continually attempted to whip up emotions when more character development would have done a better job.
I was amazed that the packed audience around me seemed mesmerized! Perhaps, I don't understand the visual thinking of the MTV crowd that I was sitting with. I prefer a touch of realism in the battle scenes. I was tempted to stand up and scream, "Give me some bloody Braveheart violence!" I would have even preferred the Kubrik styled Spartacus violence to the entire fake computer generated wizardry I saw. This cartoon stuff caused me to feel absolutely nothing.
The only fight scene that engaged me was the one in the Coliseum that has the tigers suddenly appear as major distractions. At least they do look real once they leap out from the computer-generated pits they hide in.
Acting
Another reason that I wanted to check out Gladiator was for the acting. After all, Russell Crowe rightfully could have been awarded the Oscar for The Insider and he was also outstanding in L.A. Confidential. This would be a new genre for him, so it promised to be interesting. Plus, imagining the fun of seeing some actors who haven't been in many films recently sounded very promising -- Richard Harris and Derek Jacobi, to name a couple.
Crowe does a credible job with the role, as he is a deeper character than the wooden gladiators we grew to love in the 50's and 60's. Crowe plays Maximus with a brooding nature, a man with no more ambition than to return to his wife and son after completing his military duty. Crowe had to work really hard to lose the 38 method acting pounds he had put on for the pudgier Jeffrey Wigand character he had portrayed in The Insider, and he does an admirable job as the warrior-hero to set himself up for more lucrative action movies in the future. While Crowe's character does desire Rome to become a Republic to honor Marcus Aurelius' final request of saving "Rome from the politicians," he does so more out of loyalty than anything.
Screenplay and characterization
Maximus is not a single-minded hero in the same vein as Spartacus. Maximus is no politician, but he is loyal to men of principle. He is a simple, yet complex man who is devoted to his family. I could have cared more for his character if the movie had shown us more of his inner depth. It would have helped to show a few scenes of idyllic family life.
For example, the screenplay indicates that Maximus just wants to return home and gives some clues about the Roman afterlife, but never do we see any family interactions in flashbacks or in the present day to show what is only stereotypically presented. Are we supposed to feel Maximus' pain when his family is killed when we haven't even been introduced? When I finally saw his son, my reaction was "Oh, the kid in Life is Beautiful." The reason for my reaction is simple: no where does Gladiator attempt to introduce these key characters, so my mind traveled to a place that I did grow to know this boy. By neglecting to show us his family, the script leaves a major hole to fill in for Maximus' character as well.
In fact, the one character that became most interesting was the evil Commodus. Joaquin Phoenix clearly demonstrates that not all the family's acting genes disappeared after brother River's untimely death. He shows us a truly torn and complex character -- one who is weak, yet ambitious enough to commit patricide. Commodus is politically astute, resourceful, and continually pursues his sister in a non-brotherly way. To spice up the story a bit, there's also a scene that makes you wonder what his intentions are towards his sister's son. At least he doesn't talk in circles about oysters and snails, a la Olivier in Spartacus.
Commodus personifies the decadence of Rome. Phoenix plays him as a wimpy, conniving emperor much like Pete Ustinov's Nero in Quo Vadis. Like Nero, Commodus gets the funniest bits, including the one real chuckle I got out of the movie that plays upon the verb "to vex."
Personally, I was vexed that I didn't enjoy this movie half as much as I expected to. I am a prime candidate to love this epic adventure; however, it ended with a thud for me. All that happened had occurred in countless movies before, so there were no surprises. If I hadn't seen the trailer, I might have been pleasantly surprised with the innovative use of tigers-well, for a few seconds at least. I am not sure if my disappointment rests primarily with the screenplay or with the director's work, or if it is a combination of the two.
I was continually having movie flashbacks within the movie. While the other epics I mention above are the most common ones, I also had a flashback to Lawrence of Arabia when Marcus Aurelius describes his wayward son as "brutal, cruel, and dark" as it parallels Lawrence's description of the Arabs. Immediately afterwards, I was reminded of Camelot when the aging king states that " … once a dream that was Rome." The script just reeked of being juvenile-difficult to believe that Dreamworks and Universal would dump over 100 million dollars into such an amateurish script. Of course the confrontation between Maximus and Commodus is expected, but when Commodus comes from left field to announce that he will fight Maximus in the Coliseum one on one, I just screamed to myself "Give me a break!"
I also have a feeling that director Ridley Scott may be more suited for Science Fiction films than he is for epic films. Is the dark brooding world with limited human connection, that is so suitable in impersonal films like Blade Runner and Alien, appropriate for a film like Gladiator. The film's script weakly cries out for principles of justice and freedom, but fails to rally any emotional support for them. To do so, Scott should show us more of Maximus' humanity and not rely so heavily on the script's stereotypes and pedestrian plot.
Finis
See Gladiator if you must. After all, your friends are going to see it, and you don't want to be left out of the conversations and become the last carbon life form to succumb to the advertising campaign and the positive buzz about this mindless summer film. Most will praise it. I don't come to bury it. I merely want to bring another perspective and some sanity to the Gladiator fever that may grip the nation the next few weeks.
I've seen it once, and I figure once in a lifetime is plenty of time to waste on this lightweight epic adventure -- there was little in this film that I hadn't seen before. I've got to give Gladiator some credit though. It does inspire me to check out Ben-Hur, Spartacus, Quo Vadis again, and maybe even give Barabbas another shot on my video screen.
Note: I encourage you to check out the view by verbal on this movie as well.
The general who became a slave. The slave that became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an empire. After another mighty victory on the battlefield...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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