Movie Review: Gladiator

Gladiator (2000, R): ** ½

Condensed down, Gladiator is really popcorn entertainment value that is bloated as a big budget swords and sandals epic.  In a way, it reminds us of the old films of the same genre like Ben-Hur or Spartacus, for a couple of examples.  But in no way should Gladiator be compared to either of those two films.  Both Ben-Hur and Spartacus are superior motion pictures on any scale.  Even so, Gladiator is generally entertaining and offers a few moments that are very compelling in nature.  This includes the opening battle sequence in Germania, as well as the five gladiator fights sprinkled throughout the film’s narrative.  Indeed, the Gladiator fight scenes are very well choreographed, and we get a true feel for how desperate real gladiator fighting must have been like.  Even so, I was not that much attracted to Gladiator’s story, which overall balances upon a theme of revenge, and I never made that much of a connection with what each of the individual character’s were going through.  And in addition, a few of the drama scenes interspaced in between the combat scenes are rather dull and clichéd.  Something else that I feel I should address is the CGI effects that are used to create the city of Rome.  At first, the shots of Rome are stunning, but afterwards, become cheesy to look at, and ultimately, the special effects just don’t work.  On the other hand, Gladiator is two and a half hours long, and for a movie of that length, it is very well paced.  Gladiator succeeds on an entertainment level, and employs true history as a backdrop for its story.  Even so, I can’t really, fully appreciate it because it strives hard for greatness, but in due course only achieves about half of its goals.  Directed by Ridley Scott.