Good but not great

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2000)

Gladiator is a good epic movie. The plot is solid, the acting is good, and the action is fierce. However as I watched the movie I kept thinking to myself, this sure is a lot like Braveheart. From the action scenes to the storyline alot of this movie is taken from epics that came before it. Although it's good and it takes a new twist on some of the same ideas. I couldn't help but think about how I saw this 5 years ago with people in kilts. And Braveheart's breathtaking battle scenes are still superior. Russell Crowe's performance does stand out, and the Roman setting is nice. Overall Gladiator is a good movie, but not original enough to be great.