Spectacular and entertaining

Rating: Null/10 (8 May 2000)

This exceptionally well cast and beautifully directed 2-1/2 hour spectacle nevertheless left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied. It has neither the lyrical beauty of Last of the Mohicans nor the grit of Braveheart nor the deadpan violence of Private Ryan. But on the other hand, it stands up well against all of the Roman epics of the 50s and 60s, including the somewhat (in retrospect) sillier Spartacus. I felt like Gladiator had more to give but somehow it didn't. I never really felt, watching the movie, "WOW! I need to see that again!".
Gladiator will cement Russell Crowe's "serious yet accessible" actor status. Crowe will be beseiged with offers for the lead in the next "Lethal Die Hard". I kept trying to mentally rub the makeup off of Connie Nielsen to see if Annette Bening was hiding underneath.
I kept looking for James Mason and Patrick McGoohan. Well, Mason's dead, so he would have been hard to cast. (And where was Terence Stamp? Oh, he was a senator in the last Star Wars movie. Nevermind, that satisfies his "senator quotient" for the time being.) And surely there must have been a part for Patrick Stewart!
The score was surprisingly bland and uninvolving. Especially the Enya-esque themes used in the dream/hallucination sequences. This is one area where Last of the Mohicans had it all over Gladiator. You can be sure that any story holes in a Michael Mann movie will be patched over with wonderful music.
Gladiator is solid entertainment. It could have been more, but if nothing else, it means Ridley Scott is back to making good movies. Now, let's hope his next move is back into science fiction or adventure, and not Thelma and Louise: The Next Chapter.