Straight and to the point, as always!

Rating: 5/10 (15 May 2000)

This review may contain spoilers, but not many, they are not plot threatening, because there is not much of a plot.
Gladiator... the posters were most exciting, and the hype was very convincing, but unfortunately for us, the film didn't quite live up to expectations.
The plot was slow and drawn out, and the spectacular views we saw in the trailer were either very short, or didn't happen at all! The acting was very good, apart from the old Caeser when he died, you could still see him breathing which I thought was a bit amateurish. It spoiled the effect for me.
The main thing that was lacking was the empathy for the characters. Maximus obviously had a bit of a bad time, but you didn't get the sense of his pain that a good movie will provide. Well written characters either endear themselves to the audience or make the audience hate their guts. The audience have some emotional response to the heroes or villans, but this film didn't do that.
I didn't hate the new Emperor, just as I didn't care when certain events happened to Maximus in the middle and end of the film.
The fight scenes were the only redeeming feature of the movie, but they could not save this stunningly mediocre offering.
I am disappointed because I thought this would be great, but cut an hour and maybe it would be.