Pretty good, but this overrated historical epic lacks heart.

Rating: 5/10 (9 May 2000)

"Gladiator" has a lot to commend it: Awesome fight scenes in the Coliseum, haunting images, and fine (albeit brief) supporting turns by Oliver Reed and Derek Jacobi. But it's ultimately a three-character movie (Maximus, Lucilla, and Commodfus)and none of those three characters are all that interesting. The ending should be devastating in terms of emotional content, but it just lacks the heart of earlier Roman epics like "Spartacus" and even "Quo Vadis". And, despite the lavish computer-generated effects, the film is sorely missing an epic scope. Contrast Commodus's arrival in Rome with Cleo's spectacular entrance in the '63 "Cleopatra". Maybe the latter film wasn't all that great either, but it captured the scale and pagentry that "Gladiator" misses.