I liked it, but it could have been more.

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2010)

Somewhere in history the purveyors of psychology and psychiatry infected and influenced how media operates and presents stories. The positive is that the stories have weightier impact on the movie going public. But there's an obvious downside;
The movies have no morals.
They are valueless.
So it is with "Gladiator" and the screenplay upon which this film is based. The characters are depicted as having motivations nested deep within their psyche, when in truth no such aspect was present in the real historic figures, notably Commodious. Crowe's Maximus is also similarly one-dimensional, such that the film can be nothing more than a revenge flick set in Imperial Rome.
On top of this Ridley Scott, an excellent visual director, struggles to find palpable story material. And for a lack of it, tosses in a surreal or spiritual element that seems wholly out of place. Particularly when depicted with processed shots to show his ultimate goal and desires. Do we really need to see time lapse photography and surreal dream sequences representing the "afterlife"? It's confusing because this film isn't about religious issues. In theory, at least, it's about a man trying to contend with some spoiled tyrants psychological short comings.
Which should give the astute viewer pause. Recall your classic sword- and-sandal epics. Oh, say, "Spartacus". How psychologically damaged were any of the characters in "Spartacus"? How about "Ben Hur"? "Cleopatra"? Anybody? How about any film before 1970?
Answer; zero.
But, we progress through the social "revolutions" of the 1960s, and suddenly there is no right and wrong. Everything is relative, and acts of evil must be caused by some form of child abuse or other emotional trauma.
Was there ever a bigger lie foisted on the public?
And this is why "Gladiator" fails to be a whole movie, but a palpable one to watch. It's theme and morals are lacking because they were never there to begin with. The honor of a general really has nothing to contend against, because the antagonist is so logically vilified that we know the outcome before the film is over with.
That, and "Gladiator" lacked money. The original ending would have had Maximus's army colliding with Rome's Praetorian guard. A visual feast worthy of the cinematic talents of Ridley Scott. But, instead, we get this mano-a-mano crescendo that feels like a low budget alternative, because hey, it is.
Gladiator had the promise of being a whole film. It really did. It's a magnificent piece to watch. Brilliantly staged and shot, but it so misses in the thematic department that one might as well watch a baseball game. I'm quite serious about that.
Heck, even "The Ten Commandments", the epitome of religious film making, and this comment comes from an atheist, had more heart and soul than "Gladiator". And that's really too bad, because I happen to like elements of "Gladiator", but again, it's a half baked film like so much other mental-health drivel that's been cranked out in the last thirty years.
This is why Roger Ebert astutely observed that this film feels like it's about more than it actually is. I would take that bit of profundity further, and apply to every so called modern adult film produced in the last three decades, and let the morons who've taken film making into a direction that sensationalizes emotion, but sucks the life out of hear, mind and soul. It is the reason classics will always remain classics, and why we've seen no classics since the 1960s. Just pretty tabloids disguising themselves as issue driven films, when in reality values are truncated, and the esteem of the emotional health of the individual is placed on the throne.
So it is with "Gladiator". Imperial Rome didn't suffer from abused children. It's worst aspects were created by criminals who didn't care about what happened to their fellow man, because they wanted things their way. So it is with history. And so should it have been with "Gladiator".
All in all, a watchable film for the fight sequences, but hardly the cinematic experience other reviews would lead you to believe.