A very good film to start the summer...

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2000)

The first of the summer blockbusters finally arrives, and if it is any indication of what the summer will be like, this will be a great year for movies.
Gladiator tracks the career of a Roman general named Maximus (Russell Crowe), who falls from grace after Emperor Marcus Aurelius dies and is succeeded by his son, Commodus. Maximus finds himself in the arena fighting as a gladiator, trying to gain revenge for the murder of his family.
Ridley Scott's direction is simply inspired, and he is able to bring stellar performances out of his actors. Further, the art direction and computer imaging brings the ancient Roman world to life more vividly than any film before it.
Perhaps one truly great trick that Ridley Scott pulls out of his book is to turn the theatre audience into Romans. I personally found myself excited as the blood spilled onto the floor in the arena, much to my horror (I have always considered myself peaceful and civilized). One comes out of the theatre with a sense that perhaps one isn't quite as far from the brutality of the past as we all would hope.
If I have any complaint, it is that some of the combat scenes move too fast and have too much going on. The end result is that the viewer doesn't quite know what is happening. Perhaps the clarity of the battles in Braveheart would have been more helpful here.
So, the final score: 4.5/5. Definitely worth going to see.