Entertaining with minor reservations

Rating: 6/10 (31 May 2000)

I was entertained, but then I could watch Russell Crowe read the phone book. LA Times review mentioned trite dialogue in script. I think it is a testament to the actors that none of the dialogue came off that way to me. In lesser actors then Crowe or Phoenix, the dialogue would have been awkward and full of bricks. Script/story are full of holes but does that really matter here? My main pet peeve was the undercranking and variable speeds in Cinematography during the battle scenes. Why? Does it train our eyes to accept the intense digital matwork when we get to Rome? I don't know. It kind of got in the way of the storytelling in the battle scenes for my taste.