Poor Man's Braveheart

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2000)

Billed as the biggest onscreen epic produced in years, Gladiator shines in the action department but, ultimately, its cliched and shallow storyline makes the film fall flat. On paper, Gladiator looks phenomenal, directed by a master of 'smart' action film (Ridley Scott) and starring some uniquely talented tough-guy actors (Crowe and Oliver Reed). And the action is intense, from the opening scenes of large-scale warfare to the battles in the arena. Yet peel away the impressive battle scenes, and you will find that the remaining scenes tell a tired story that has been done over and over again. Gladiator is basically a reworked version of Braveheart without the detail, depth of the characters, and emotional response. You really won't love Crowe's Maximus all that much, and you really won't ever be scared by Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus. You won't really get upset when the bad things happen, and you won't really feel inspired at the end. In Braveheart, you feel terrible when Wallace's first wife is killed; how can you be expected to feel terrible when the same happens in Gladiator, when Maximus' wife doesn't even speak or appear for more than 2 seconds in the film? Gladiator shares a million parallels with Braveheart (I'd be surprised if the mimicry wasn't intentional), and falls short in every category.