A decent, though somewhat shallow film.

Rating: 8/10 (22 May 2000)

Transient thoughts came to be the call of the day as I sat at the theater watching "Gladiator." Not because the subject matter was prosaic, for that was not the case, but rather, due to the film's longevity and amateurish characterization techniques.
Despite the abundance of events taking place throughout the course of the story, by the end of the movie I felt cheated in the sense that the conflict and main characters themselves lacked what one may refer to as "soul." The former half of the movie presented an excellent backdrop for the final battle that was to come--but unfortunately, it all quickly collapsed from there as the characters displayed stagnant traits that went on far too long, and were elaborated upon far too little.
At one point, it is mentioned in the movie that the crowd is fickle; it will revere a winner one day, and have forgotten about him the next. The movie accentuates the fact that by winning the crowd, you can win your way to the top. Yet I found it difficult to believe that after two fights, Maximus had become the champion of the people. And I found it even harder to believe that after two fights, the viewer was supposed to regard Maximus in the same light.
A quick rule for emotional storytelling: Allow the viewer to be capable of relating to the character through his actions and feelings. Dismal demeanor along won't do a thing if the viewer cannot realize that the character is as human as them.