What, is it autumn already?

Rating: Null/10 (9 May 2000)

"Gladiator" is being hyped as the first blockbuster of the summer movie season, which is rather strange, as it hardly exudes what could be described as a summery feeling. Ridley Scott's sword-clanging historical drama boasts plenty of July-style blood and thunder, but it's powered by a dark, brooding emotional tone that makes it feel more like a serious October release than like summer popcorn fun.
Set in 180 A.D., the film centers around Maximus (Russell Crowe), a powerful Roman general in the army of Caesar Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), who plans to give Maximus control of Rome upon his death so the great city's long-dead republican government may be restored. This infuriates Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), Aurelius' actual son, so he kills his father, as well as Maximus' family, and plans to have the general executed. Maximus escapes, but is caught by slave traders and sold to Proximo (the late Oliver Reed), who trains the former military man as a gladiator. Maximus, not surprisingly, is a prodigious fighter, and he and his fellow gladiators are called to Rome...where Commodus Caesar has ordered five months of games in honor of his dead father. Revenge (along with severed limbs) is soon heavy in the air.
This is a more intricate story than is common for popcorn cinema, and admittedly, it is handled fairly well. However, the story is essentially a framework for some impressive set pieces. I have always considered Ridley Scott a director of primarily visual gifts (his "Blade Runner", my all-time favorite science fiction film, is one of the very rare pictures where visual quality and subtext bear more weight than the plot itself), and here he delivers an immense and intriguing Rome which is always eye-catching and enjoyable to see. Cinematographer John Mathieson, production designer Arthur Max, and costume designer Janty Yates position themselves as early 2001 Oscar favorites with their work here. Unfortunately, the visual impression is marred somewhat by a few instances of ham-fisted editing, as well as a Hans Zimmer / Lisa Gerrard score which is frequently intrusive and ill-suited to the action onscreen.
There are many people, of course, who will be seeing "Gladiator" primarily for the arena battle sequences. Be warned: this is not your typical Teflon action stuff. Though visually striking, these scenes are shockingly gory and gruesome, and are not much fun to watch at all. Anyone who thinks boxing is too barbaric should watch this film, a record of an time in our history when cold-blooded murder was served up as public entertainment.
The screenplay, by David Franzoni, William Nicholson, and John Logan (who tackled modern-day gladiators of a different sort with his football epic "Any Given Sunday"), does not improve on the dialogue of such sword-and-sandal forbears as "Ben-Hur" and "Spartacus"; the characters still express themselves with the same sort of Shakespeare Cliffs Notes verbal style. Fortunately, Scott's cast can out-act an army of Charlton Hestons. Harris and Reed are entertaining in their roles, and Djimon Hounsou exudes his typical effortless menacing charisma as one of Maximus' gladiatorial comrades. Among the supporting cast, Joaquin Phoenix is the major standout, making Commodus a perverted, cowardly man cursed to doom by a herculean inferiority complex. This is not a villain you'll love to hate. You'll just hate him.
Russell Crowe continues to impress as an actor, following his nervous, conflicted whistle blower in "The Insider" (a role which deservedly won him an Oscar nomination) with a convincing and nuanced portrayal of a man of principles trapped in a world of death-for-profit. He is commanding in the action sequences (I wouldn't want him coming at me with a sword) and enough of an actor to convey the strong, direct emotions that customarily drive a narrative of this type. It's nice that Hollywood has wised up to the usefulness of real ACTORS in these types of roles; picture Jean-Claude Van Damme as Maximus if you don't believe me.
I wouldn't exactly call it anyone's idea of summertime fun, "Gladiator" is nevertheless an interesting and well-made film which provides a fair share of good, if not always rousing, entertainment.