GLADIATOR

It’s been about 35 years since a good gladiator film came along. I’m not counting futuristic gladiator films like Running Man or Rollerball, but classic Roman period pieces. That’s probably why Ridley Scott’s Gladiator was so anticipated. Was it worth the wait? Yes and no. In a nutshell, Gladiator should have been a better film, or at least more balanced and intelligent one, but it isn’t. It’s a standard action epic that reaches for Braveheart but falls short.

Let’s get something out of the way first. Spartacus is the greatest gladiator film ever made. Still. So forget Spartacus. Gladiator shoots a lot lower; focusing on characters rather than social issues, action rather then emotional impact. It succeeds for the most part, specially on the action front. This is a very exciting and violent film with massive action pieces that are nothing short of unbelievable. It’s too bad, though, that Scott didn’t expand on concepts that make gladiatorial combat such an interesting subject matter. Mental slavery, the stupefying effect of mass entertainment, the moral bankruptcy of a waning empire. These are all very relevant ideas that deserve a day in the arena and would certainly make for strong drama. But that’s another gladiator film that’s yet to be made. Gladiator just wants to tickle your eyeballs and it does so rather brilliantly. Everything else, unfortunately, is by the numbers.

The story is as linear as it gets. Noble General Maximus is betrayed by evil prince Commodus, his family executed and he – inexplicably – finds himself a slave in Morocco. Proving himself in the arena Maximus, now known only by his ethnic nickname Spaniard, goes to Rome and becomes a superstar gladiator. His success eventually leads to Commodus’ complete mental breakdown and results in a fifth column that eventually de-thrones the despot. The script is so dry and lacking in irony that the only memorable line from the entire 3-hour film is one that was obviously improvised by Juaquin Phoenix. There’s some seriously stilted dialogue here that proves challenging even for great actors like Crowe and Richard Harris. On top of that, the movie plays it so damn straight and takes itself ever so seriously that the script’s total lack of a viewpoint becomes even more damaging by the time it’s all over. I left the theater wondering what the fucking point was. (I also didn’t buy much of the final sequence.)

It’s not all bad of course. The acting is good all around. Russell Crow rocks, Juaquin
Phoenix is surprisingly menacing, and Oliver Reed delivers a great final performance.
The cinematography by John Mathieson is wonderfully lush. The CGI effects are good and serve the story in an adequate, non-intrusive fashion. The highlight of Gladiator are the action sequences which are truly original and exciting. If you don’t expect too much more, you’ll probably enjoy the film, warts and all. But I for one, am still waiting for a truly great gladiator film. I just hope it doesn’t take another thirty years.