Gladiator

Date: May 6th, 2000

Cast:

Director: Ridley Scott 

As I was leaving the theater, I heard a comment from an adolescent who was representative of the demographic of the audience for this movie. He stated that “There was too much story, and not enough blood and guts, I just wanted to see fighting and blood and stuff.” People wonder why I weep for the youth of America.  Gladiator is the kind of movie that Hollywood should strive to make more often.  It is an action movie, with a brain.  It uses the action sequences both to hold your attention and progress the story, not just as a substitute for a lack of plot.  Director Ridley Scott has the made the kind of movie that visualists such as Brian DePalma want to make.  He incorporates a beautiful, stunning and powerful image into a story that actually makes sense, is smart and entertaining.

This is a simple tale of power, corruption, family, love, faith, and how the combination of any of those, can create both a hero, and a villain, all depending upon how they are dealt with.  Maximus is a general, who served emperor Marcus Aurelius.  Upon Aurelius passing, his son Commodus does not like the idea of Maximus having any power in Rome as his father desired.  Hence Maximus ends up in a slave camp, fighting his way through gladiator battles, to avenge and ultimately confront Commodus.  The battle lines between the two are fairly clearly drawn, which is no big surprise; hence where the movie is going should be no shock either.  What is both fun, and interesting, is the journey it takes to get to this conclusion. What makes certain movies stand out, are the developments, causes, motivations and such, which lead to the inevitable.  This is one of those movies.  We get a hero to cheer for, a villain to boo and even a few laughs (some obvious, some ironic.) Just when it seems we may get bogged down with “too much story” as my teen friend so eloquently put it, we get fight scenes.  Oh my goodness, the fight scenes.  What can I say about them, they are choreographed and presented as the probable precursor to professional wrestling.  The choreography is effective in its confusion and dizzying power. At times the gore seems a bit excessive but never to the point of dampening the effect.   Basically we are shown what its predecessors left out, or to our imagination.  We see the effects of the swords, and knives closer than necessary, but effectively so.  We are taken into the arena and you can almost feel the breeze from the swords swooshing, and the breath of the opponent on your neck.  We are taken back, sucked through some cinematic time machine into the era of stand up philosophers, where raising chickens and flowers, while fighting for “your Caesar” were the norm.  The recreations of background life in everyday Rome is subtly well done.  The effects are stunning as well.  The Coliseum itself is intimidating as are the overhead shots of Rome.  However, some of the time-lapse transition sequences seemed a bit out of place.  Since the end result is entertaining, these small faults are ultimately forgivable.

The performances all fit in like additional pieces perfecting a 3-dimensional puzzle. The actors sincere delivery of lines that sound straight out Shakespearian leftovers is made more powerful in the realization that maybe the reason authors wrote like this, is because it was how people actually talked.  Crowe shows yet another aspect of his repertoire, combining a physical presence and intimidation, with true and sincere emotion and conviction. He really gives you a person you can fight with, cheer for and believe in.  You revel in his victories, suffer in his tragedies and relate with Maximus because of Crowe’s portrayal.  On the other side of him, you have Phoenix, who has always played characters that hovered right on that edge of being darkly innocent, yet someone you’d never completely turn your back on.  Here, his chameleon ability sinks him completely below anything he’s ever done, and he revels in it deliciously.  Commodus is ruthless, yet “merciless”; driven and corrupted by power.   A true poster child for ultimate power corrupts ultimately.  Crowe and Phoenix deserve more attention than they have gotten in the past, and hopefully this is the movie that will give it to them.  Crowe had a very deserving nomination in the most underrated movie of last year The Insider.  Combine that, with this role, and you can no longer ignore the talent that he is.  Phoenix is coming into his own, and has a very bright future, probably playing mostly dark, or on the edge characters.  For his best turn, see the overlooked, under appreciated Return to Paradise, which he deserved more recognition than he got.  Strong supporting character performances from Richard Harris and Oliver Reed give a mix of young and old, the passing of the proverbial torch in acting I believe.

Ultimately, Gladiator is just a shade below being a truly historical epic, but still could be the best thing you see this summer. It is a joy to watch, experience, and revel in an action movie, with a story and intelligence. It feeds the intellectual needs of those thinkers, while also fulfilling the action and gore of those like my co-hort who go for the visual stimulation only. It may not have the memorable staying power of its Scottish cousin Braveheart, but it definitely deserves a mention, and should go far in resurrecting interest in the long forgotten history of ancient Rome.    The simple battle of good overcoming evil despite any odds has been done before.  The difference here is in the delivery, vision, and emotion behind how we are told this story.  Scott never rushes things and uses his visuals to tie together his story in the same manner as he did in Alien and Thelma and Louise.  It is a movie that does not suffer from over telling, or over emotionalizing, but rather carries a delicate balance of both, the way a good story should. I could have lived with a little less violence, a little smoother storytelling, but in the long run, this is one that should be viewed on the big screen in all its splendor.($$$1/2 out of $$$$)

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