An epic disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (7 May 2000)

I was prepared to be enthralled by "Gladiator", but I ended up being bored. It was about a half hour too long. My wife found it tedious enough that she went out for candy in the middle of it, and didn't feel she missed anything while she was gone.
I know that I was supposed to be viscerally excited by the graphic violence, but I ended up being turned off. There was just too much of it. And as Maximus's improbable victory piled on improbable victory, I became more removed from the movie. My willing suspension of disbelief was stretched to the limit.
The real story of this movie belonged to Commodus, and I applaud Phoenix's performance. His character was the most interesting and complex, from his profound disappointment at his father's disapproval to his befuddlement as to why the people of Rome didn't love or respect him. An epic hero traditionally has a fatal flaw, and Commodus' was his ambition. In this story, Commodus isn't likeable, but he is certainly the most human.
Maximus was driven solely by his revenge and his sadness. There wasn't much more to his character, except his prowess in battle. I was supposed to root for him, but I felt little connection to him. Except for the opening battle scene (which IS intense and riveting), his victories seemed as believable as watching a bare-chested Sly Stallone scale a vertical cliff in the middle of a snow storm.
At the start of the 21st century, I had hoped that a movie of this magnitude would transcend the sandal epics of the mid-20th century. I was sorry to be disappointed.