Great movie...but no Braveheart (or Titan AE)

Rating: Null/10 (1 July 2000)

This is the first time I'm aware of that the "sword and sandals" epic has really made a comeback. I've never seen Ben-Hur or Spartacus...but I'm sure they're quite different from this. The whole time I was watching this I was getting vibes that while this was a great movie it was not trying to show us what Roman Times were really like, but rather trying to please the crowd and get more money.
Still, I liked this movie and it is a lot more intellegent than most of the other films that will be coming out this summer. Surprisingly, this film is 70% talk. If you go expecting Bloodsport you'll be disappointed. The plot is interesting, well thought out...but it was too long. I think the movie was trying to become an epic that will be remembered..and all great epics are 3 hours long. There are too many scenes that seem unnecessary.
The best part of this movie is Crowe. He isn't another hollywood pretty boy like Tom Cruise...so you can actually believe that his character is there in the action and not just dancing around pretending to hit each other on screen. He's a good actor I guess, though I can never really tell. He was nominated for best actor, though, and thats good enough for me. I also liked that one guy, something-Phoenix. He was good for his role as the films villain (probably the summers only villain that will have some redeeming qualities, therefore being a real character) SPOILER ALERT The climax of this movie, however, is weak...totally anti-climactic and out of character. It's too simple as well...hero challenges villain, hero wins...hero dies...movies over. I liked how when the villain died that didn't make a big thing out of it, with slow motion and all that, it makes it more life like that way. But the ending made me stop caring. When the hero died, I wasn't as sad as I could of been.
This movie reminded me of Braveheart...both telling the story of one man making a differince in his fight for freedom. But I enjoyed Braveheart more...I liked the music better, the characters were more interesting, and the setting was so much more beautifal and intriguing.
But it was fun, and it had a brain...something many movies you see this summer will not (60 Second, Big Mommas House, MI-2). It's no Titan AE...but since it isn't trying to be thats ok.
This movie earns the following awards: 2nd BEST Protagonist of 2000 (1st going to Cale) WORST Climax of 2000, and STUPIDEST Historical Facts guy...the romans use thumbs up to signal a win, instead of a closed fist. I actually think the filmmakers were aware of this, they were just making it clearer for the average action movie viewer this film will attract to most. Overall this film earns the better than average rating of "a movie that successfully combines good action with an interesting plot, setting and characters...just ignore the ending."