A little soon to remake Braveheart, don't you think?

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2000)

Frankly, I was disappointed by this movie, and I had suspicions that I would be. Before I go into the, why -of-it, it is important that I make an introduction. Ridley Scott permanently captured my imagination, and many others as well, many years ago with "Bladerunner," which still ranks in my top list of science fiction movies, despite recently losing it's number one spot (my own) to "The Matrix." "Bladerunner" had been preceded by the also incredible "Alien," which led me to believe that Mr. Scott would become one of the great directors of all time. "Legend," which followed, though fun to watch Tim Curry, as Darkness, was a bit childish and thin, and "Someone to Watch Over Me," was a bust. Even the much praised "Thelma and Louise," which was ground breaking in its introduction of leading women characters as hero/anti-hero, (characterizations only previously allowed for men), despite its hype and popularity, did not completely win me over either. I could go on and on and throw a brick at, "Black Rain," or "GI Jane," but that's not the point. I can only say I have not been impressed with any of his work since 1982. Now in all fairness it does take a lot to impress me. And perhaps if I were viewing these films as the work of an aspiring film-maker, I might be less critical. But I expect more from my heroes, and so now I will tell you what I found so lacking in "Gladiator." About an hour into the movie, I turned to my companion and said, "I've seen this movie before..." First of all, to me, talking during a movie, is the first sign of trouble, as her listening to my comment, was the second sign. Any film worth it's salt will go from beginning to end without so much as a peep from me. And this is the way it should be. Now many of you might say, "so what, we 'love' remakes," or in fact, "everything is a remake,..." and you wouldn't, sadly, be too far from the truth, (which is perhaps my greatest lament about the mainstream movie industry to begin with.) Some remakes have not been that bad, and I wont waste any of this time elaborating. The movie I originally had in mind with my comment was, "The Fall of the Roman Empire," which was pretty much the exact same story with Alec Guinness as the dying Marcus Aurelius; Christopher Boyd, as General Livius,(not Maximus), selected by Caesar to be Rome's guardian, while it remakes itself as a republic, (Caesar's dying wish here as well); Sophia Loren, as Lucilla, the princess; and most importantly, Christopher Plummer, as Commodus, Caesar's son and murderer, in a captivating performance, (as opposed to Joaquin Phoenix's listless interpretation of the same character), in an otherwise tediously long film, (a full 34 minutes longer than "Gladiator." The characters names are mostly all the same, as is the story, and sadly the dullness. Now I do realize that this movie was made in 1964, and most of you out there have not seen it and could care less, But I expect more from my great directors. Unfortunately, this was not the only movie herein that I had seen before. Also built within Gladiator, and becoming more apparent half of the way through, one noticed desperate story line similarities with "Braveheart," in the drive behind the hero's plight, and fate. This pathetic resort to imitating plot lines from Oscar winning films, should be relegated to fledgling directors, and not from one of the best. The similarities do go on, I could mention "Spartacus," and several others in the Roman genre as well. All old films perhaps, and once greatly in need to have been remade, though now no longer. All in all, in-between the action packed sequences, the picture moved slowly, begging for more scenes with special effects. Which it did not ultimately produce. We saw the best of this the film had to offer halfway through. In fairness, I loved a lot of the images, which reminded me that Mr. Scott now has the right to include any images he wants, and will not have to resort years from now from releasing a "director's cut" of this movie. I only wish he could have relied more on his intuition and less on what I perceive as, a catering to the least common denominator of the film going audience. So for the most of you, go see it and enjoy it, and forget everything I say, because you may not be expecting as much more, as I have, and will continue to do, while waiting for one more "Bladerunner," to come forth from this talented film-maker.