Gladiator is an entertaining but slightly flawed film.

Rating: Null/10 (6 April 2001)

It is my opinion that Gladiator is one of the very few good movies of the year 2000. David H. Franzoni's screenplay is satisfactory. It doesn't introduce any new ideas or concepts to the genre but it is still entertaining. The cast does a nice job of giving life to their roles. Russell Crowe does a good job at putting the human back in the hero in his role as Maximus. Joaquin Phoenix is pretty good as the disturbed villain, Commodus. Some of Joaquin's more emotional scenes are a little over the top and hammy, though. Oliver Reed is wonderful at bringing a hardness and edge to the character of Proximo. Hans Zimmer's score is terrific; at times it is powerful and energetic and at other time it is very sorrowful and mournful. The set and costume designs in Gladiator are very good; they bring out the splendor and glory that was Rome. The computer effects are okay but sometimes it is evident that the images seen on the screen were generated from a computer. Ridley Scott's direction is nothing to write home about but it is good nonetheless; the film carries that Ridley Scott flare. Pietro Scalia's editing, and Scott's direction bring the grisly battle scenes to life. Scalia utilizes quick cuts for the battle scenes, which prove to be very effective. His editing does falter however; some scenes tend to drag on too long. John Mathieson's cinematography is one of the films lower points. The camera movement is occasionally too bumpy and some of the images appear to be too murky and dirty. Overall, Gladiator is a good film; one of the few enjoyable films of 2000.
7.5/10