TOO MUCH HYPE

Rating: 5/10 (4 April 2001)

I haven't seen many of the films that came out last year, but there's no way the AMPAS is telling me that GLADIATOR is the best one of all of them. Anyway, I thought the movie was okay. I don't think I'll ever forget it, but it wasn't that good. What I like was the sense of masculinity I felt while watching it. The costume design was awesome, the score was good, and the set decoration was also good. But the cast was sort of boring, the characters didn't have a sense of humor and all of them were always bitter and they all act the same. Russell Crowe did a good job though. I thought Joaquin Phoenix's character weeps and wines too much; how could a great cesar raise someone who's the exact opposite of him? And how come he is always kissing everyone? And the battle scenes could've been better. I didn't enjoy them too much because they're built on messy close-ups of blood rather than strategy. No one in the audience could tell what's going on during the fight scenes because the camera was always pointing in the wrong direction and when it was pointing in the right direction, the scene would change chaotically. For example, when the horses on the chariots kept crashing, I was too busy trying to figure out why they're crashing instead of enjoying it. And the sound kept skipping too! I thought HOLLOW MAN should have won best visual fx instead. But who cares!