Almost great

Rating: Null/10 (5 May 2004)

Gladiator is a decent film. It lacks great emotional value, but it makes up for that with excellent pacing and an interesting visual style.

Russell Crowe plays Maximus, a general who was friend to the aging emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) and betrayed by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). His family is murdered and he winds up being sold into slavery to fight as a gladiator. At first, he accepts his new life with sorrow and apathy. Too much sorrow and apathy, especially since we know it won't last. Russell Crowe pouts throughout the whole movie and makes Maximus a distant a cold person. It's hard to imagine him being liked so well by his men. We see nothing human about him, he takes pain as if it were nothing and he has no remorse about killing in the arenas. That said Russell Crowe does deliver some excellent lines throughout the film. At one point when one of his subordinates says of the Germans in the beginning of the film that people should know when they are conquered, Russell delivers the line, `Would you know, Quintus? Would I?' The timing is perfect and there's just enough emotion to make it believable, and to help foreshadow Commodus' new vision of Rome.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Commodus and from the first time we are introduced to him, we are aware that he is a troubled man. The movie portrays Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, as feeling he had an unloving childhood. One needs only to look as far as Michael Jackson to see what happens to someone when they feel unloved in their childhood. Joaquin takes his portrayal to the extreme as his character is in love with his sister and makes little secret of it. Even I felt uncomfortable watching him on screen, which is a statement to how powerful Joaquin is as an actor. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit with the rest of the movie, and while the pacing is good for the most part, it is the scenes with Commodus that seem to stick out.

As the plot unfolds, we learn that Maximus was Marcus Aurelius's chosen successor to restore Rome to a republic. Commodus is of course insanely jealous of Maximus and kills his father to ascend to the throne. He then has Maximus executed, which of course doesn't happen, and his family killed. I must admit that I don't feel it is necessary to show a child being run over by a horse to get an emotional rise out of the audience. Most of the action in Gladiator happens in the arenas both in Rome and in Africa. They are well put together, although as is expected historical accuracy gets thrown out the window in favor of cool fights and emotional drama. The lighting and colors of the movie are odd, mostly dark with a yellowish tone to them, even in Rome. I'm not sure why this was done, and while it's interesting, it doesn't appear to serve anything more than to add to Russell's constant scowl. Oliver Reed and Richard Harris are both excellent in their roles, as is Connie Nielson who shines as Commodus' sister. All of this leads up to the big fight and it probably isn't much of a spoiler if I tell you who wins, it isn't as exciting a finish as one would want to an action/drama. The good thing is that the drama part kicks in and it does a fabulous job of closing the movie. A good film but not quite a great film.