An ambitious failure

Rating: 5/10 (7 March 2001)

While watching "Gladiator", I was reminded of a number of films with either a similar setting ("Ben Hur", "El Cid") or a similar storyline (avenge your family's murder like "The Outlaw Josey Wales", or gather a large group of people to fight against a oppressive leadership like "Braveheart").
Despite the film's budget and some of director Ridley Scott's impressive visuals, "Gladiator" left me cold. The movie didn't blow me away. Throughout the movie, I was reminded of films that did a better job. "Gladiator" felt very drab and, in some stretches, dull.
I've been impressed with Russell Crowe's work in a number of movies including "Romper Stomper", "L.A. Confidential" and especially, "The Insider". I was not impressed with his work in this movie. I thought that he captured the physical aspects but not the emotional. I was surprised how much I didn't care about his character.
I thought Joaquin Phoenix did a better job as Commodus. His callous, cold-blooded actions were right on target. I did find it interesting that Derek Jacobi, who played Gracchus, played a similar character in the title role of "I, Claudius" several decades ago.
Considering all the battles that occurred in the film, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Oliver Reed gave his most understated performance in the final movie of his career.
As always, with any Ridley Scott film, the visuals will always be impressive. But unless the script he directs from is really good (e.g., "Thelma and Louise"), the end product will always be a good-looking but underwhelming movie.