Epic Adventure

Rating: 8/10 (22 May 2003)

Ridley Scott is a trustworthy director, and even though a couple of his movies (Hannibal, Black Hawk Down) aren't as great as his older ones (Alien, Blade Runner) he still manages to at least direct them good. Here, he takes the more Hollywood type of approach and uses camera style previously used in the 1998 feature Saving Private Ryan. What Ridley Scott understands is that to see the action, one must be in the action. He uses his this technique in Black Hawk Down with his rapid- fire photography of the battle scenes. In Blade Runner, the camera was constantly focused near Deckard. He carefully chooses his shots here and instead of just saying "Okay, let's make it realistic" he choses to be more detailed and shows beauty in the scenes. He should have won Best Director instead of Steven Sodernbergh. Unfortunately, John Logan and co's script ends up being mediocore at best. They are trying to dazzle the audience with a magnificent feast of old proverbs and tight dialouge, but it ends up being the typical cliche type of dialouge. Maximus is the hero, yes, but the writers smolder it in our faces showing how he can just take anyone on and still hold out well. The performances are first- rate, and even though Russell Crowe's performance was powerful it was not as good as his "The Insider" of which he truly should have won for. Did he deserve at least a nomination? Yes he did. In support is the always energetic and young Joaquien Phoneix as the deceptive and brutal son of the Emperor, who always seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve. His performances blends craftiness and muscular strength in a beautiful tense and even if his character is a bit cliche it's not noticeable. He should have beat out Benicio Del Toro. Also in the backround is Richard Harris as the wise and friendly Emperor Commodus who wishes for war to end. His performance masterfully builds off himself and his character, and he at least deserved to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. As Commodus's daughter, Connie Nielsen provides most of the emotional work but she's harldy in the movie. There are some masterful shots here of the towering (CGI) arenas and the interesting costume designs to build upon everything. Even if the script isn't too good, the rest of the movie adds up enough to be a somewhat enjoyable experience and still one of the best movies of 2000. 8.5/10