Product: Gladiator [VHS] (2000)
Rating: 2.0
Wanna-be epic lacks substance
"Gladiator" tries so hard to become an epic of sorts. After all, Ridley Scott's drama revives a genre long thought to be dead: the ancient Roman gladiatorial epic. Now, I don't even like "Spartacus" all that much, and "Gladiator" thinks it can be "Spartacus". It's no "Spartacus". Lacking sufficient character development, "Gladiator" relies on gruesome action sequences to divert attention. The fact is, "Gladiator" is all flair and no substance. The main reason for this is there is a lack of motivation for its protagonist, Maximus (Russell Crowe). We don't see a real clear reason for his actions. Joaquin Phoenix is just plain annoying on the screen, and all in all this film was simply disappointing. I'm sure most people won't find this review helpful, because I'm criticizing a movie that was very well-liked. But, this film just didn't do it for me. The WWF-style fight scenes were ridiculous and unnecessarily gory. Sure, it's worth a viewing, but I doubt you'll think it's worth repeat viewings and therefore, I suggest renting the DVD before buying.