Suspend your disbelief...it is pure entertainment from start to finish

Rating: Null/10 (1 June 2000)

*spoilers* ! I have seen "Gladiator" twice now and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves action packed revenge films! It is basically the age-old good v. evil story and is similar in some ways to "Braveheart" in that it is about a family man who is wronged in the worst way possible and must have his revenge... (and by Jiminy, like in "Rob Roy", we want him to get that revenge!!) Of course it is manipulative - who could not feel sorry for Russell Crowe's character after all that he has been through? We are even made to feel sorry for the bad guy, Commodus. He is basically an unloved child! Although made out to be evil on several fronts, at least his character is three dimensional, something which often does not happen with baddies in mainstream Hollywood films. I thought that Joaquin Phoenix's acting was very convincing. The scene where his father tells him he will not be emperor is very powerful indeed. I felt uneasy about two things in the film. Firstly, the dream sequences - they did not sit well with me for some reason. I found them a bit cliched. Secondly, the emperor fighting Maximus in the Colosseum??!?? Okay, I know it is Hollywood and it is the big climax with the stakes raised to the highest point, but....oh well! Suspend your disbelief. It is pure entertainment from start to finish with a great soundtrack. (A bit like Holst's "The Planets") No doubt I shall be visiting my multiplex again to see it.