I wanted to love it, but ...

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2000)

Gladiator sounded like the movie of the decade and I just couldn't wait to see it. I'm an Aussie so I'm really, really proud of Russell Crowe who is deservedly having a great career. And I love action movies and adored Braveheart, so it just seemed like it would be heaven on a plate.
But it wasn't. I agree with other reviewers that the fight scenes are really well done, but there are just soooo many of them! And there is really not enough plot to carry the film. After the first half hour, due to a mixture of seeing lots of previews, and my incredible sixth sense, I leaned over and whispered the rest of the plot to my companion. And I was right.
If the characterisations had been a bit better done the film might have just got away with a thin plot. But they are given so little to work with that we don't understand anyone's motivations, not in the visceral way we need to in order to really cheer for them, to really care what happens to them. And the lines of good and bad are so clearly drawn that we don't have to bother coming up with an opinion of our own.
Which means that although Gladiator is visually engaging, it does not hold the attention in the way that truly great movies do. It is, however, a really good movie and well worth seeing.
About the soundtrack ... I felt it was intrusive and overbearing at several points in the film, particularly in the early scenes and the final ones. It tried a bit too hard. But I have gone out and bought it as it is a brilliant piece of music, moving, exciting and majestic. Bit too good for the film!