'3 Black Chicks Review...'
GLADIATOR (2000)
Rated R; running time 150 minutes
Genre: Action
IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0172495
Official site: http://www.gladiator-thefilm.com/
Written by: David H. Franzoni, John Logan, William Nicholson
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Richard Harris,
Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi,
Spencer Treat Clark, Tomas Arana (Quintus)
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000
Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsgladiator.html
Lions and tigers and Crowe.
Oh my.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**):
Corrupt politicians. High-profile athletes. Bloodthirsty fans. No,
it's not business as usual in modern-day America...
It's 180 A.D; Maximus (Russell Crowe), fearless and beloved General in
the Roman Empire, has had a hard two years and 234 days and one morning,
and just wants to go home to his wife and son. But Emperor Marcus
Aurelius (Richard Harris) has something else in mind for the General:
declaring Maximus "the son I wish I'd had", Marcus wants Maximus to
insure that Rome returns to public rule by taking interim control of the
Empire until the Roman Senate can get it together enough to take over.
This does not sit well with Marcus' actual son (and next-in-line for the
Emperorship), the pampered Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix); feeling cheated
out of his rightful place in life, he conspires against Marcus and
Maximus, as well as his sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and her son
Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark), and Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) to
become the next Emperor of Rome. Commodus [am I The Only One who can't
help thinking of a toilet bowl when seeing that name in print?] does Bad
Things that eventually lead to Maximus being made a gladiator-slave in
the servitude of Proximo (Oliver Reed), who teaches Maximus and fellow
gladiator-slave Juba (Djimon Hounsou) the rule-of-thumb of becoming a
successful--that is, living--gladiator: "win the people, and you'll win
your freedom".
The Upshot:
Hmmm...that shorthand synopsis sounds a bit soap-operaish, and in fact,
elements of the story do bring in mind something along the lines of All
My Decadent First-Century Children. And a soap isn't the only thing the
storyline of GLADIATOR brings to mind; the movie reminded me of any
number of things, from NFL players in a stadium, to the American
Congress, to other movies (like, of all things, Kevin Costner's version
of "Robin Hood", and of course, classics like BEN HUR and SPARTACUS).
But mostly, GLADIATOR reminded me just how brilliant and chameleon-like
Russell Crowe is as an actor.
It's breathtaking to watch Crowe so easily losing himself in his roles,
while totally drawing the viewer in and keeping them believing; just as
Crowe *was* the downtrodden, overweight, middle-aged protagonist in THE
INSIDER, he is equally convincing here as Maximus--about as far from
Jeffrey Wigand as he could be. Yet, both characters have something in
common: their sense of family and the need to make things right. And
whether it's from under a business suit or a suit of armor, Crowe
portrays those strong character traits skillfully.
That said, the movie suffers most whenever Crowe is not involved in a
scene. To be sure, most of the supporting cast is capable, if not
strong--Richard Harris in his brief turn as the Emperor, Oliver Reed in
a meatier role as Proximus, and Derek Jacobi's Gracchus, being standouts
among them--but the movie seems to crawl along most noticeably in
Crowe's absence, and when the action stops. That, and the difficult
time I had believing that Commodus would last a day as Emperor [could he
be more whiny?] or that Lucilla would suddenly become powerless and
demure in the presence of her rather limp brother, threatened to wreak
havoc with my suspension of disbelief...until Crowe showed up on the
screen again, and everything was Made Right once more.
And speaking of "action", director Ridley Scott pulled out all the stops
to bring it to the audience, in full, bloody gore. The special effects
are seamless and spectacular; never getting in the way of the story, it
wasn't until the closing credits rolled that I remembered that so many
of the background images were computer-generated. Effects alone doesn't
pay the bills, though; and the interplay between Crowe and Nielsen, and
Crowe and Phoenix, and Crowe and [insert castmember's name here] show
the earmarks of good directing on Scott's part.
The parallels in GLADIATOR with American politics were humorous--a
leader would give power back to The People by empowering The Senate?
bwah!--but those parallels also made it all the more easy to follow the
plotline. And before the viewer has a chance to get comfortable with
the humor, Scott and Crowe come back with a testosterone rush and get
the adrenaline pumping again.
Now *that's* how you kick-start a Summer movie season!
Bammer's Bottom Line:
Spectacular images, remarkable action, powerful scene-chewing by Russell
Crowe in the lead - on top of a hit-and-miss story presented whenever he
wasn't on-screen. Oh well; three outta four ain't bad...
GLADIATOR (rating: greenlight):
It ain't Spartacus, but it's most def good enough for a repeat
performance, if only to see Crowe sizzle again.
3 Black Chicks...Movie Reviews With Flava! /~\
Rose "Bams" Cooper /','\
3BlackChicks Enterprises /','`'\
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 /',',','/`,
EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com ICQ: 7760005 `~-._'c /
http://www.3blackchicks.com/ `\ (
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