Great acting and story but quite dated and formulaic otherwise.

Rating: 7/10 (27 June 2008)

I think without a doubt that Gladiator's strengths are its simple but powerful story and its engaging performances. Other than that, however, I think the overall style of the film and the film-making itself are already quite badly dated and forgettable. It doesn't feel like the personal vision of a talented filmmaker (Ridley Scott in this case) but more like an anonymous miniseries with great actors and a very big budget. So, it's good but it should have been great and I find it frustrating because I think it's overrated and I don't know why so many people either can't see or just don't mind what appear to me to be obvious flaws.
The action scenes are no longer very special. Braveheart had passionate battle scenes with very precise and skillful choreography. It's not that these ones aren't skillful, but they aren't very original and there's nothing particularly personal about them either. And of course, the special effects are well past their "best before" date so that aspect no longer helps a whole lot.
Is Hans Zimmer a hack? He blatantly rips off Holst's "Mars: The Bringer of War" (and does it badly), not to mention tinges of Vangelis, but maybe Scott is in part to blame for this. His orchestral texture is typical of his scores, there's the obligatory march (that sounds a lot like Pirates of the Caribbean, which he had a hand in, not to mention the Michael Bay movies he's done) and worst of all he employs the subtlety of a sledge hammer when it comes to setting the mood in rousing or emotional scenes. One major exception to this in my opinion was Richard Harris' last scene which I found surprisingly good, as if the director gave him some freedom and he actually liked the scene. Otherwise, Zimmer's music fits the movie, or at least its obvious surface layer, perfectly. No risks. No depth. Plenty of formula.
Russel Crowe's performance transcends the dated film-making. It's honest and gritty. Oliver Reed also stood out for me (especially his eyes) while the rest are more than engaging. Coupled with the effective story, the performances make the movie worth seeing (IMHO).
So, weakness = formulaic film-making. Strength = story + acting. I reckon if you replaced Hans Zimmer's score with any thematically similar music and re-filmed all the non-dialogue scenes using any competent but disinterested cinematographer, Gladiator would be just as popular as it currently is.