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GLADIATOR Send This Review to a Friend
Cecil B. Scott, I mean Ridley Scott, follows in the De Mille tradition but has one big advantage in "Gladiator." The marvels of contemporary special effects facilitates productions on such a grand scale that one can create an ancient Rome in ways unavailable when DeMille was grinding out his epics with casts of thousands. But one stumbling block remains the same--coming up with a viable story.
"Gladiator" is steeped in traditional foolishness and cliché, but it does deliver on the action to those for whom that's all that matters. Slash slash. Chop chop. Kill kill. The blood flows in this bloated tale of Maximus, a heroic Roman general who escapes with his life only to become a slave and then be turned into a gladiator who eventually must fight in the Roman Colosseum before crowds being given bloody combat as spectacle to divert their minds from their real problems. Staying alive is the means to his end--to wreak vengeance on the evil emperor Commodus for ascending power by murdering his emperor-father Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) and for killing Maximus's wife and son, but also to see that Rome is put back on the right track, whatever that may be.
The film's strongest asset is Russell Crowe as Maximus. In "The Insider" Crowe only had to contend with a tobacco company and CBS. Here he keeps his stoic expression as he battles for his life at every turn against gladiators and soldiers of the emperor. Maximus's physical prowess contrasts with the film's lack of brainpower. As his rival, Joaquin Phoenix is sleaze personified in the role of the thoroughly evil and conniving Commodus. There may have been a shortage of necessities for the Roman populace, but there is no shortage of ham in his performance. Connie Nielsen plays Lucilla, the sister of Commodus, whose intentions are not exactly brotherly. Her concern is to see that her young son lives long enough to eventually become emperor. Oh yes, she and Maximus were once lovers. Thought you might like to know that.
The late Oliver Reed, to whom this film is dedicated, plays Proximo a gladiator promoter who earns money on the bloody sport in a profession that makes today's boxing before crowds screaming for a knockout seem gentlemanly. Proximo is cynical, but this is the sort of film that makes one certain he will mend his ways, with dire consequences, of course. Derek Jacobi plays the honest Roman senator Gracchus, a role that does little to tax Jacobi's considerable talent.
There you have the essentials. Blood, spectacle and action strung around a corny, conventional story that even makes death a happy ending. But "Gladiator" does have Russell Crowe. A DreamWorks Pictures release.
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