Very Entertaining, if Slightly Overrated, Epic

Rating: 8/10 (17 April 2001)

`Gladiator' is a splendid, action-packed throwback to sandal epics such as `Spartacus'. Russell Crowe is Maximus, a general in the Roman army. After crushing an army of Gauls, Maximus meets with the Emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). Marcus Aurelius tells Maximus that he wishes Rome to become a Republic once more, after his death . . . and that he would like Maximus to help create this new Republic. Afterwards, Aurelius goes to see his spoiled son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), and tells him that he does not feel Rome should have another Emperor. In a fit of rage, Commodus kills Aurelius and becomes emperor, and then promptly orders the execution of Maximus. Maximus manages to escape his own death . . . . but his wife and son, alas, do not. Fast forward a few years (exactly how the following transpires is never clear), and Maximus is a slave, a gladiator forced to kill in order to entertain the Roman people. As his popularity as a gladiator grows, Maximus begins to see how he can exact his vengeance upon Commodus.
For the most part, `Gladiator' is well-acted. Russell Crowe is quietly intense as the former general Maximus, and manages to effortlessly pull off a memorable performance in what could've been a wooden role in other hands. Richard Harris is good as the wise and weary Marcus Aurelius, and the late Oliver Reed is excellent in his final role as Proximo, the cunning gladiator trainer. The weak link of the cast is Joaquin Phoenix, who I still can't believe was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his stiff, awkward portrayal of Commodus. I found him annoying instead of terrifying  Commodus needed to be a fearful tyrant, and instead he was little more a petulant child. This might have been more how the role was written instead of Joachim Phoenix's acting skill, but the character of Commodus still brought the movie down. Ridley Scott's direction is superb  the battle scenes and the gladiator fights are wonderfully done, and the movie has a grand, epic feel that's been missing from the big screen for far too long. The use of CGI to recreate Rome is incredible as well. Where the film falls apart to a certain extent is the story  there are a few plot holes that are just big enough to be distracting. For example, the audience watching `Gladiator' in the theater or at home on their DVD player are given plenty of reasons to hate the vile Commodus . . . but it's never made clear why the Roman people would hate him. The Emperor puts on lots of gladiator tournaments, gives out free bread, free wine  hey, the average Roman should love Commodus! So why isn't he? Little points like this drag `Gladiator' down slightly  and while these detractions certainly don't make `Gladiator' a bad film, I think they're enough to pull it down off the masterpiece mantel. Personally, while I really liked `Gladiator', I think even nominating it for Best Picture of 2000 was a stretch, and as for actually winning the Best Picture Oscar . . . no. It's good, but not that good.
Still, an intense epic worth watching. A-