Plot: (from imdb.com) When a Roman general is betrayed
and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a
gladiator to seek revenge.
Review: There may not have been any other movie that I
have been more vocal against in the last decade and a half since it came out
then Gladiator. When I first saw it, I did not find anything special about it
and constantly being told that it’s great and that I’m wrong just infuriated me
more. After all this time, I watched it again.
The
story as it is works. It is not something all that original (revenge movies
have been done to death) but it works. It has good pacing and although the
movie is fairly long at 2 and a half hours, it does not feel that bad. The
characters are also done right. You feel for the main character Maximus and
also really despise the emperor Commodus. Everyone in between also does well
with this. Acting wise, I have a hard time with this facet. No one is that
fantastic, but they get the necessary reaction through. Russell Crowe isn’t
overly great (not best actor worthy) and Joaquin Phoenix is annoying as hell
and you just hate his guts, which is probably the point
.
Now
on to the main reason I did not like this movie back in the day, quick cuts and
shaky cam. This was the first movie I saw where I noticed the new trend at the
time of quick cuts and shaky cam. And I could not stand it. If you’re going to
create a scene with elaborate stunts and choreographed fights, why would you
edit it in a way that I cannot tell what is going on? 15 years later, the trend
is finally dying out slowly and headed back into the wretched hole it came from
thankfully. Gladiator is not as bad as other movies that came later, but being
the first in my eyes to start this trend really bothered me. There were some
shots in the gladiator fights that were completely ruined.
I may
have been too harsh on the movie back in the day, but I stand by my opinion
that this is not a great movie nor a classic in any way. Acting is decent but
not spectacular and unleashing the horror or quick cuts and shaky cam is a
crime from Ridley Scott that I cannot forgive.
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