Well acted anti-historical mess...

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2020)

Gladiator is a well beloved film that is a fact. I can see why too. The acting is great! Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix deliver terrific performances and the cinematography is certainly not bad. Even the directing is quite good which it should be coming from the brilliant Ridley Scott. I mean I love Alien, Blade Runner, American Gangster etc. I was expecting something really good but all I got was a mediocre epic.
Enough praise though there is plenty wrong with the movie. A) Historically this movie is false beyond belief... In real life Commodus wasn't evil, fire arrows never flew from the sky, helmets werent chopped like they were made out of wood and nobody was swinging around two spathas at a time!!! B) The movie is overlong, unoriginal and bland. C) The story is poor and mostly a romanticized adventure straight out of the mind of a ten year old.
All and all it isn't a horrible movie by any sense of the word but it also isn't anywhere near being a masterpiece or even one of Ridley Scott's better movies. Watch it if you like unrealistic stories and fantasy movie because that is what it is. Certainly not History...
WEAK!!! 7/10