Gladiator review (2000)
Originally published on Dooyoo.co.uk
This classic story of injustice and revenge is done almost to perfection and is one of my favourite movies. If you’re even remotely sensitive, you could find yourself fighting back some tears in one particularly touching scene.
The acting and dialogue has at times the weight of a Shakespearean play but without the theeing and thouing. Gladiator is an incredible film directed by Ridley Scott. It develops the characters so well that you feel you know them inside out. This is achieved perfectly in the 20 minutes or so of dialogue that follows the straight-into-the-action opening, and is why it needs to be such a long film.
The main character, Maximus, (played perfectly by Russell Crowe) is such a strong and moral character that you feel every injustice done to him and revel in his glories. Paradoxically he is a highly moral killing machine who is forced to change from killing as a vocation in the Legions, to killing in the arena for entertainment after he is abducted.
If you never thought you could enjoy seeing people hacked to pieces then this could be a first for you. The depth of character development and the sense of moral outrage at his treatment encourages the viewer to revel in his revenge. Some of the fights were very uplifting experiences. The atmosphere in the arena at some of the big gladiator events is akin to the atmosphere at a Wembley cup final, so be careful in case it awakens dormant feelings you can’t control.
If you normally enjoy seeing people hacked to pieces you won’t be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, a charge of gratuitous violence wouldn’t hold up in court here – at least not if I was on the jury.
Joaquin Phoenix, plays Commodus, a really nasty character who is the antithesis of Maximus and the cause of all his suffering. He plays the role brilliantly.
The music throughout is excellent. It is very haunting at times and combined with the right scenes it is very manipulating. Each time I have seen the film I have heard strangers behind me either sobbing, cursing, or shouting out at certain scenes. The special effects are very good – although mostly passive. They are more to do with the creation of Rome etc. Some of the effects will only impress you if you actually know what they did, and how they did it. They are often effective enough to be unnoticed in the finished film.
My only criticism is that some of the fight scenes are occasionally a bit confusing due to the hand held action filming and the way it is edited. I appreciate this was done intentionally to mimic the confusion of battle, but personally I don’t think that it was necessary.
Gladiator isn’t just another Gladiator film, it has depth, a powerful story and class. I predict many, many awards.
Written by Andy(ArT)Trigg on April 14th, 2008 with
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