Most enjoyable - Ridley Scott has made a great comeback

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2000)

After some dissapointments (G.I. Jane wasn't to great, and White Squall was lacking at the end) I'm glad to say Ridley Scott is back in his game. I was looking forward to this film for awhile, it looked to be an impressive piece of cinema and plus, it had Russel Crowe in it. After a few months of waiting for it to come to theaters, I was it opening day with a sold out crowd. Everyone in the theater seemed to have really enjoyed it. Some thought it was to long (drags a lil at the beginning), some thought it was to violent (guess they haven't seen Braveheart), but most of us thought it was excellent.
I'm not gonna give anything away in this review like many have already done. I must say Ridley Scott hasn't had beautiful shots like this since Legend. The cinemtography really pulls you into the story - Rome has never looked this stunning. The acting was oustanding on all counts, everyone was very well casted. Above all, what hit me most about this movie wasn't the cinematography, nor the directing, nor the storyline. It was Russel Crowe. This guy proves himself that he is the Marlon Brando of the new generation. He's wonderful as Maximus, some of the weakest lines in the film he makes them sound amazing. I can only hope him and Edward Nortan, another actor who's amazing, will make a movie sometime together.
As for my dislikes of the movie - the editing. It's nice to see that a lot of people agree about how similar this is to Braveheart. Mel Gibson and Ridley Scott are very different directors and Scott approached this as an in your face kind of thing. For many scenes it dosen't bother you, but the opening battle and the first gladiator battle are very hard to follow because of this. I wish some of the action scenes lasted longer than they did, although the battles in Rome are oustanding. I wish I could have been able to tell what was going on a lot easier in the opening battle (the start of it as thousands of arrows fly through the air is magnificent) since everything happens very fast.
Overall though I expect this to be one of the biggest hits of the summer. Maybe not in profit, but it has already made it on the top 250 so it seems most people love it. This movie will make Russel Crowe standout soon enough as another 20 million dollar actor, and he deserves it more than anyone. If you have the time, and the taste for a good action/drama, see Gladiator. 9/10