Bread & circuses for all (not easy to rate)

Rating: 6/10 (5 May 2000)

In terms of effects, art direction, and pure adrenelin, this movie is hard to top -- it doesn't let up ... but ...
In terms of characters and theme, I don't think it quite worked. I mean, did anyone really care at the end whether the Republic was restored or not? Also, why is it that Maximus can brutally kill anyone he meets - until they take their masks off?
I'm sure that most folks also won't miss the irony of us *watching* folks watching the combat in the Colosseum. In seeing this movie, attendees are just as voracious and vicious voyeurs as the mob in the stadium. After all, why go attend the beheading in the public square when you can get a better seat at the movie theater? If you see it, listen to the chuckles and cheers from your fellow movie-goers -- it's in the theater, not the soundtrack.
Ultimately, this is a "summer blockbuster." That is, a formulaic bread & circus for a violence-starved, thrill-seeking hoi polloi. You won't have to think, at least not about anything that matters. Just check your brain at the door. It's still an absorbing film for its acting performances, pace and beautiful art direction. But at least in Braveheart, Wallace died for something truly larger than himself ...