Contender, ready? Gladiator, ready? 3...2...1...GO! (Gladiator (DVD))

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	Gladiator (DVD)
Date:	08/03/09 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great special effects

Disadvantages: not much depth to Crowe's acting

WHAT IS IT ABOUT:
Russell Crowe stars as Maximus, a Roman General beloved of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. When Aurelius is murdered by his son who succeeds him, Maximus is banished, his family killed, and is sold into a life of slavery where he must battle his way through the barbaric Gladiator arena.

IS IT ANY GOOD:
This is one of those films everyone has seen and, whilst I like it, I have to say it is not as good as many people think.

First off, the acting is very good, with Joaquin Phoenix in particular giving a powerful showing. Crowe is believable, but his character lacks depth, and this was before his time as the 'new De Niro', when he was happy to take an action role that required little more than delivering one liners in a dead-pan voice.

The storyline is a good mix of action and suspense, but I think people are kidding themselves if they think this is much more than a big budget action flick.

Visually, it's very alluring, with special effects a real winner on this film. The re-creation of Rome was brilliant.

What I didn't like about it was how it was over emotional when it came to bad things happening - Maximus wife and kid are slaughtered (I don't think there was any need for that), and the sister loving Commodus (as if that wasn't enough) seems to have a desire for his young nephew too. I hate it when films make the bad bits so dramatic - it's over the top and unneccessary (particularly the nephew bit which I found uncomfortable to watch).

IN CONCLUSION:
A high budget action movie with an authentic historical setting but it isn't much more than that.

Summary: worth a watch