Both Old-Fashioned And Modern, Gladiator Is An Intoxicating Blend Of Action Spectacle and Intimate Drama

Rating: 9/10 (9 July 2017)

Gladiator, 2000's Best Picture winner, was undoubtedly one of the biggest successes of the decade. It made tons of box-office cash, nearly swept the Oscars, and revitalized the sword-and-sandals genre for years to come. Does the movie warrant the massive success it received? For the most part, yes. Ridley Scott's Roman blockbuster doesn't have quite the overwhelming emotion of another Oscar-winning epic, Braveheart, but as a brawny action spectacle, Gladiator soars. With a strong story, a profound sense of character, and action and special effects that are suitably exciting, Gladiator is a special kind of sword-and-sandals picture; One with a true dramatic core.
Like the great epics of Hollywood's past, Gladiator is simple in its story. Russell Crowe stars as the Roman General, Maximus, whose life is thrown into chaos after the jealous Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) arranges for his execution. Maximus is sold into slavery where he meets Proximo, a former gladiator played by Oliver Reed who shepherds him through life as a gladiator as Commodus scrambles to stop Maximus' influence among the people.
The story of Gladiator is a rock-solid tale of revenge, bolstered by well written characters, some sly political subtext, and a couple of stellar performances from Crowe and Phoenix. The two principle characters, Maximus and Commodus, are what separates Gladiator from the slew of sword-and-sandals epics that came after it. They are simply but elegantly written as characters; Maximus, a man singularly driven by a need to return to his family, Commodus, a confused young man singularly driven by a need to be loved. However, it is the performances from Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix that really elevate this material. Phoenix gives a brilliant portrait of an emotionally frustrated young man. He is completely unpredictable, but he never becomes campy. He is a real person with real problems, and there is an underlying sadness to his character that makes him so much more interesting than your typical stock villain. As for Crowe, his performance is all about physical presence. Apart from a few big emotional scenes, Crowe's performance is one of quiet masculine stoicism. He adds a remarkable gravitas to this character that all but makes the movie. You feel for him, you relate to him, you root for him, and you become inspired by him. It is a perfect heroic performance.
The character stuff in Gladiator really works. Coming from a genre that made do with archetypal characters doing obligatory British accents for years, it is nothing short of a revelation that Gladiator is such a fulfilling dramatic experience. Here are characters you actually care about and not simply placeholders to string up the plot in between action scenes.
When it comes to general filmmaking, Gladiator is rarely pedestrian and often astounding. Apart from some strange quirks in the filmmaking like the seemingly digitized zooms or the moments when the frame rate seems to cause a weird flicker effect, Gladiator is a deep, rich, and meticulously detailed visual experience. Hollywood production values don't get much higher than this. The technical departments are tops in terms of production design and costuming. The movie looks expensive, but there is something else in Gladiator's visual style that keeps your eyes glued to the screen. The look of the film, with its mix of traditional, large- scale sets and CG enhancements, is almost dreamlike. The environments of Ridley Scott's version of ancient Rome, including a painstakingly crafted digital recreation of the famous Colosseum, seem untethered to any kind of physical reality. It's as if what Scott has created is an environment that reflects the feeling of Ancient Rome rather than the reality of it. Just as with the deep characters and eloquent script, there's a modern feeling to Ridley Scott's filmmaking in Gladiator. The reliance on CGI is sometimes overdone, but in conjunction with the costumes, sets, and impressively grandiose score from Hans Zimmer, it adds to the intoxicating atmosphere of Ridley Scott's world.
The main attraction of Gladiator is its scenes of gladiatorial combat, and on that front, Ridley Scott aptly gets the job done. There are a few moments when Scott falls back on to standard sword clashing and disorientating shaky cam, but for the most part, the action scenes are exciting, bloody, and imaginatively staged. The best action scenes are the opening Barbarian battle and a fantastic fight scene between Maximus, a veteran gladiator, and a Colosseum full of bloodthirsty tigers. In those scenes, Scott's emphasis on close-up, sweaty, brutal action is totally effective. I felt the cold of the forest mud, the heat of the flaming trees, the sharpness of the swords, and the dusty claustrophobia of the Arena. The action of Gladiator is visceral and bloody, and there is plenty of it. Those hungry for bloodsport will find more than enough manly derring-do to satiate their red-blooded desire.
For all its dramatic depth, I can't say I came out of Gladiator heavily affected by feeling. This is still, at its core, a visceral experience, but the small character moments and the textured performances are miraculously riveting. I was intrigued by every second of Gladiator. The action scenes are thrilling, the dramatic scenes are mesmerizing, and the $103 million budget is all up there on the screen in every frame. Ridley Scott's direction is superlative, especially in the third act, as the story, action, and emotions reach a fever pitch. The last few scenes, including the climactic final showdown and the closing 'Elysium' scene, exhibit a crescendo of the kind of daring artistry that permeates the film's best sections. Gladiator is a meaty Hollywood epic of the best kind. It's visually sumptuous and supremely thrilling, but there is a beating heart within this beast. Sure there are a couple of bumps along the way, but with Crowe as the sturdy hero and a simple story of returning home, Gladiator stays with you long after the credits roll.
92/100