Excellent!!!!!

Rating: 9/10 (23 May 2000)

Gladiator is the best movie that I've seen so far this year. I worried about being disappointed by it, but I knew from first scene that I was in for a real treat. The battle scenes were outstanding. Every shot was like lightning, giving you a feel of what hand-to-hand combat must be like. Scott handled the gore extremely well, too. You see blood, but it's not slow motion, throw-up from all the disgusting gore. You THINK you see more than you really do. The characters are well thought-out and surprisingly complex. Maximus is tormented by his lost family, and his personal bounds of honor. He kills because he has to, in order to seek his revenge and/or survive. Even with all that you think Maximus is, there remains an air of mystery about him, largely due to Crowe's brooding charisma. We still don't know all that goes on behind that sloping brow. Commodus is deliciously evil and complex. Yet, we feel that all his conniving and his wickedness stems from his longing to be loved, first by his father and then from his people. He doesn't want to destroy Maximus; he wants to be him, for Maximus has the love of the people and of the Emperor. Commodus' unnatural affection for his sister Lucilla stems, again, from his longing for his father. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius loves Lucilla; Commodus projects the love he is denied onto the child that their father loves. Lucilla is a good example of a head-strong female ruler, much absent in epic films. She knows what she wants (Maximus), yet in keeping with the times, she doesn't force convention if it is not in her or her son's best interests. The only problem I had was that of Maximus' and Lucilla's past history. I think that, instead of having them be past lovers, that they could have been friends, with Lucilla being attracted to him, but never acting upon it until now. It never followed up enough with the backstory that was given, and I think this would have been a better, and easier explanation. On the whole, I give it two thumbs up. My friends and I already declared it that after the opening scene.