boring, cliched, unoriginal, flawed. A disappointment! *could contain spoilers*

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2000)

i expected much better from this movie. This movie has seriously been overrated by everyone. Sure, it ain't bad, but it's not much better than movies like Mask of Zorro, Star Wars etc. But the critics raised this movie to incredible heights, saying it was a masterpiece. Well, this movie's no masterpiece at all. What makes it disappointing are its simple characters and simple story. We've seen this kind of plot a hundred times before. Strangely, this movie kind of reminded me of the Zorro movie, which i think is a better movie. That movie also had a fight at the end between the hero and the bad guy, and somehow i liked that scene better. Although we knew who was going to win, it was much more exciting than this one. Here it's just way too short and also implausible, 'cause Maximus was dying before the fight began.
But getting back to the movie, i found the plot too simple and predictable to really be able to like it. The audience of my theatre wasn't really impressed, either: they all got up from their seats as soon as "Directed by Ridley Scott" appeared! But no matter what i say, everyone's going to see this movie. Advice: don't raise your expectations too high.