Filmic dream, CG nightmare

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2000)

Much about this film was fantastic. Russell Crowe gives an excellent performance, which I've come to expect. Ridley Scott gives us something different, as I've come to expect --few of his films seem similar to one another. The cinematography and lighting is gorgeous, although I have
some technical beefs with the DP (please, filmmakers, don't overuse filters--it's a little cheesy). The story is quite something; a historical epic with a good deal to say about modern culture and society (Proximo: "I'm an entertainer." Maximus: "Are you not amused?"). However, I have a big problem with CG (computer-generated imagery). No matter how sophisticated, it always looks strange, and never looks real. Its use is better and more restrained here than, for example, in Star Wars: Episode One (a ridiculous waste of millions of dollars in technology), but here it's still oppressive. I think of all the people who must have put in months of their time making little tiny CG Romans walk around a big CG Colosseum, and I wonder what might have been a better use of their time... Oh well, I suppose I should get used to the CG trend, it seems to be here to stay.