A flashy, action-driven piece of cinematic trash.

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2001)

While I'll be the first to admit that this movie has spectacular action sequences, depicting horrifying terrible combat and beheadings and arrow strikings, I must say that I am really perplexed as to why so many people find this movie so good. It never deserved any awards, save maybe a "gruesomest bloodbath" award. People are harping on and on about how Russell Crowe is this great actor, but all he did, the entire movie was either look p***ed off or look about to cry. His character had no depth, no faults, he was brave, gallant, honorable, and completely too perfect to be human. His nemesis, Commode-ius or whatever toilet-sounding Greek name he had was as shallow and one-dimensional a villain I have seen since Titanic. He had no redeeming traits, even when you thought he might show one... oh, it was eclipsed because he either killed his father or molested his sister. Plus the story line? Utter trash! When will movie writers see that the audiences of America (at least the ones that can think for themselves) want something more than the standard by the book epic of "Great novel superior Good" vs. the "Deep dark despicable Evil" that killed his wife and kids and other people too? When will we get more than a simple piece of re-hashed, re-charactered, and ever-so-slightly-re-written cinematic garbage to feast our intellects on? Obviously not as long as the tasteless hoards gush to see the epic about people getting chopped up, that was produced by no-talent scene-stealing unimaginative hacks. Ridley Scott, I'm very disappointed in you...