A Decent Action Epic Over-Hyped as Something its Not

Rating: 5/10 (30 June 2016)

Gladiator should be the type of film that I enjoy. Ridley Scott taking on something much grander than anything he had previously. A cast of fine actors led by Russell Crowe. A return to the sword-and- sandal epics of years gone by. It's a film of fine visual finesse, engaging action sequences and large themes. So why is it that Gladiator left me feeling so cold? Well it falls flat in its two most important areas, story and characters.
It follows the gruff general Maximus who is named protector of Rome by Marcus Aurelius, that is until Aurelius is murdered by his own son Commodus who has Maximus exiled and his family killed. From here you can see exactly where the film is going. Maximus finds himself as a slave and is sold to a gladiator trainer named Proximo (played by the always great Oliver Reed) who wants to take him to Rome and help him fight his way to the top. This story is about as basic and clichéd as humanly possible. The hero is betrayed and fights his way back in order to get his revenge. That is effectively the main premise of the film. For such simplicity to work the film has to either add twists to the story or be incredible detailed, yet it does neither.
The story also contains a weirdly handled sub-plot about Commodus trying to crush the senate who are constantly attempting to make him tackle real issues instead of hosting games. This could have been a decent side story but it's never fleshed out enough to leave an impact. Involved in basically every story thread is Commodus' sister Lucilla, who he also happens to want a child with (yes, he's that kind of kooky), and she becomes a plot device to link all of these pieces together. Joaquin Phoenix hams it up big time as Commodus and to be fair he is clearly meant to be a pantomime villain and Phoenix is probably the only person having fun in the entire film. Connie Nielsen deserves credit too for holding her own despite her incredibly underwritten character.
Of course when Maximus and his gladiators get to Rome, they smash through all that stand in their way leading to the crowd turning over to Maximus' side and an inevitable confrontation with Commodus. How Russell Crowe won an Oscar for his performance is a mystery. Crowe himself is fine, but the role is as basic tough guy as it comes and anyone with a bit of muscle could have played the role as it is. Maximus is simply a poor leading character. He's just dour and dull as a rock for the entirety of the film, even before his family are killed off. What's is also notable is that the character doesn't grow. He's a bland, unsympathetic slab from the get-go who just becomes slight more revenge-fuelled as things progress. How can we empathise with this type of main character?
Clearing those obstacles, I have little problems with the film on a technical level. It's Ridley Scott so you know the film with be very detailed and beautiful on a visual level and that is exactly what we get. Rome looks magnificent. Vast, majestic and full of people, whilst even the CGI is impressive and manages to blend in seamlessly. The film has an almost dirty brown, hazy look to it that actually works to its advantage. It fits the sullen mood that many of the gladiator's find themselves in. Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard provide a score that feels like it's been ripped off by every action movie since it, especially the pieces where Gerrard appears to be singing in a made up language.
The action scenes are a highlight. There is a grittiness to them that works for this time period. They not that well-choreographed and I thing that ways purposefully done, in order the show how many of the gladiators were fighting by using sheer aggression and desperation. Every stabbing or wounding looks and sounds painful and not in an overblown or unnatural way. The Coliseum looks fabulous and the films gets across the intimidating atmosphere of having to fight in there. I do have problems with how easily Maximus rises to the top, seeing as he's able to lead the gladiators through tough battles and defeat the only undefeated gladiators with relative ease. Then the climax eventually boils down to Maximus v Commodus and its entirely predictable and just a boring way to end.
What is notable is that Gladiator didn't affect me on an emotional level at all. Even comparable epics like 'Braveheart', which shares similar issues, moved me. Gladiator left me numb. I didn't care about Maximus' plight because I was just given a shell of a character to try and get behind. I wasn't engaged in the story because it was simply a downbeat repeat of a storyline that has been done to death. I didn't even care on a basic level to see the villain get his comeuppance. All the talks of political treachery, what it means to be a gladiator and of meeting again in the afterlife just seemed like pieces to fill the film out. I can't deny that the film is a technical marvel or say that it bored me, but I can state that is built upon a story and set of characters that are wholly uninteresting.