Well worth seeing, but misses out on greatness

Rating: Null/10 (10 May 2000)

When I first heard about this film, I knew it would either be one of the best films of the year, or one of the worst. There was no middle ground. I'm happy to report that the former is the truth. This film took a very exotic and little used location, and needed to make it convincing to work. It succeeds admirably. The dreary landscapes, ragged populace, and gruesome attention to detail quickly make the viewer forget all the "tits and togas" films of the sixties. The film establishes a strong hold, and never lets up. It seems that ever since the success of the relatively intelligent Titanic, and failure of moron trash like Godzilla, every action film advertizes itself to be "character driven", or "plot centered". This usually means a character will talk about how much he is loved by someone, and proceeds to die an exotic death followed by the self-indulgent tears from the actress playing loved one. Not so here; the plot seems to flow from the personality of the characters, and even though cliches and cheap emotion are plentiful, the film is so earnest and determined, such things are forgiven. The characters also find the right note; Maximus is dignfied and silent, a man of action who leaves words to the politicians. Commodus is cowardly, inexperienced, and stupid, but also dangerously ruthless and ambitious. The sister also strikes the right note, posessing the intelligence and courage her brother lacks, but also develops empathy and a concern for others. The only wrong note is the fellow slave played by Houson. Real gladiators were vicious criminals or rebellious slaves, but Houson is too nice and benign to be convincing as either. There also was no really good villain, like Mesalla in BenHur, or Edward in Braveheart. Commodus is too pathetic to really hate. The plot is effective, but seemed focused on the wrong things. It would be better to tell the film from Maximus' eyes than the omniscient narration that kept pulling us away, into the Senate chamber and Commodus' bedside. Scott also makes a few directing mistakes, such as showing us the coloseum early and a huge procession, diluting the effect of Maximus' first coloseum battle. The dark, brooding photography helped set the mood, but many times made things hard to see. It also seemed to lack the epic sweep and power of Spartacus, BenHur, or Braveheart, and some battles were hard to follow, particularly the charioteer fight, which chariots were wrecked but it was unclear how. Still, this is a pleasant surprise after the meager offerings of Y2K, and while it may not be a classic, it is a good start for a promising summer.