Is it autumn already?

Rating: Null/10 (5 May 2000)

"Gladiator" is being hyped as the first blockbuster of the summer moviegoing season, which is strange to me, as it doesn't exude a summery vibe at all. To be sure, Ridley Scott's high-tech update of the classic sword-and-sandal genre boasts plenty of July-style blood and thunder, but the picture also sports a grim, somewhat heavy mood that undercuts the thrills and gives the film the kind of brooding texture more commonly associated with prestige autumn and winter releases.
The story, set in 180 A.D., follows Maximus (Russell Crowe), a mighty Roman general who is selected by dying emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) to restore the republican government to Rome upon his death, at the expense of the Caesar's own ambitious son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). A furious Commodus kills his father, as well as Maximus' beloved wife and son, and condemns the general to death. Maximus escapes, but is captured as a slave and trained as a gladiator. Transformed into a brutal killing machine, he is returned to Rome...just in time for Commodus Caesar's gladiator festivities.
It's an engaging story, more intricate than is common for popcorn fare, and it's given appropriately serious treatment by Ridley Scott. Scott has always struck me as a director of primarily visual gifts (his "Blade Runner", my all-time favorite science fiction film, is one of very few pictures in which style and subtext really tell the story), and he serves up an always-convincing past here. Every detail, from the sprawling grandeur of the Roman Colosseum to the surprise of seeing female archers in combat in the ring, is eye-catching and enjoyable. The picture is great to look at, with cinematographer John Mathieson, production designer Arthur Max, and costume designer Janty Yates positioning themselves as early Oscar favorites with their work here. The same cannot be said for composers Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, whose stentorian score at times overwhelms the action. The film also features some choppy editing choices that deaden the drama at a couple of moments (the scene where Maximus discovers his dead family, for example, was marred for me but a jump-cut that threw me out of the moment).
Of course, there are many people who will be seeing the film primarily for its scenes of gladiatorial combat. They should be warned: this isn't your typical rousing action stuff. It's brutal, shockingly gory, and a bit chilling in the bloodlust it brings out in the citizens who sit back and cheer as men are dismembered and eviscerated. Anyone who thinks boxing is barbaric should watch this movie, a chronicle of a time when cold-blooded murder was something you paid money to watch for fun.
The screenplay, credited to David Franzoni, John Logan (who did his own modern-day gladiator story with last Christmas' football tale "Any Given Sunday"), and William Nicholson, is relatively unremarkable in terms of its dialogue; they really haven't improved on the sort of slightly stilted Shakespeare Cliffs Notes speech Cecil B. DeMille got off on. Still, Scott's actors put it across with more conviction than an army of Charlton Hestons. Phoenix really impressed me with his Commodus; perverted, ambitious, and nursing a Herculean inferiority complex, he's a gripping villain. You don't love to hate him. You just hate him. Also impressive are Djimon Hounsou as Maximus' gladiatorial comrade and the late Oliver Reed, who exudes cynicism and faded glory as a former gladiator turned bloodsport merchant.
Front and center in all of this, of course, is Crowe, who impresses yet again with his versatility and control as a performer. Maximus is worlds away from the nervous, conflicted Jeffrey Wigand of "The Insider", the role that won Crowe an Oscar nomination earlier this year. This hero is solid, tough, and single-minded of purpose, a man who does what he's got to do to see justice done. Crowe's charisma and conviction carry the audience through the most ferocious of the bloodletting, and provides a strong force to compel the audience through the drama.
"Gladiator" is a gritty, surprisingly serious melodrama, a story of blood and revenge which may not be a lot of people's idea of a fun way to spend a hot afternoon. Still, anyone with a taste for period cinema and classical old-fashioned storytelling will be in for a good, if not always rousing, experience.