Good Film but Very Derivative of Braveheart

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2000)

Think a minute & tell me what film I'm describing: It's an historical drama which is only loosely based on history. Its hero is a strong-willed man who only wants to live his own life but whose wife is killed by an evil ruler & who vows revenge. In later portions of the film, he dreams of being together with his wife in an idyllic setting. He has a loyal Irish sidekick & the film features airy music & large & violent battle scenes. The hero of the film is fighting for freedom and against tyranny & in the end, although he dies, he succeeds in bringing freedom to his people. Sound like any movie you know? Maybe...Braveheart? Well, all those features also apply to the new film Gladiator, a shallow but entertaining Braveheart rip-off set in the Roman Empire c. 180 A.D.
Maximus is a popular general of the Roman legions for whom the Emperor Marcus Aurelius has just bypassed his son, the incompetent Commodus, as his successor. Marcus wants Maximus to bring power to the Roman senate & bring freedom to the Roman people who have been living under the yoke of the Emperors. Unfortunately, when Commodus learns of Marcus' plan, he kills the old man, kills Maximus' family, & tries to kill Maximus himself. But Maximus escapes & winds up a slave in North Africa where he is trained as a gladiator.
Eventually, the gladiators are brought to perform in Rome where Commodus has ordered a lengthy series of games to improve his popularity. Various schemes ensue until there is a big showdown in the gladiatorial ring between Commodus & Maximus.
The film at least has the honesty to admit (in a blurb at the end) that, while it contains historical characters, the story it tells is fictional. It is an entertaining movie but it's not as good as it could have been. The opening battle scene, while suitably noisy & crowded, is not up to any of the battles in Braveheart (the Romans' German opponents look like a bunch of poorly armed old men--the sort of soldiers who, centuries later, would have been guarding the Fuhrerbunker in 1945 & not a formidable opponent for the Roman legions). The gladiator scenes are mostly good, although like most of the film they lack the feel of authentic history. However, while the action is pretty good, the whole bit about Maximus' desire for revenge & his goal of freeing the senate is uninvolving & the plotting between Commodus' sister Drusilla, the senators, Commodus, & various others seems to be there mostly to fill screen time between gladiator matches.
There are a few good bits in the film. In particular, the scenes of the gladiators seeing & then entering the Colosseum for the first time are impressive & the battle scenes of the legions have their moments. But the numerous & often weird & gratuitous `borrowings' from Braveheart (both films even have the hero voice an aphorism about death-`Every man dies, not every man really lives'-Braveheart vs. `Death smiles at all men, but some of them smile back'-Gladiator) leave a bad taste in one's mouth & make one wish that the `creative' forces behind Dreamworks had used a little bit more of their *own* creativity on this film & not relied so extensively on the creativity of others. I'd give it two stars out of four, but add a star if you didn't see Braveheart.