Review of Gladiator (2000) by Davecharlton — 22 Jun 2004

After seeing this film again, I have to say I was dumbfounded by its idiocy and triteness. After the breathtaking build up to the film's opening battle in Germania, we are given a hyper edited bloodbath, full of horrid jumpcuts that do the film no favour in hiding the fact that it was done on digital cameras and didn't interest me at all, especially when compared to the intensely visceral opening battle in Gangs Of New York, which put jittery slow-motion and jump-cuts to much more effective (and this is a huge understatement).

From then on, there is not one sequence in the entire film that works. The whole thing is one big boring, pompous, ugly and altogether hollow mess, so much so that it makes even Troy look thoroughly impressive in comparison.

At least that had an interesting story, was aware of its own over-the-top masculinity, wasn't full of laughabley hokey politics and banal dialogue and didn't put a predictable division between the tough, ordinary Stallone-eque good guy and the weird, effeminate villain.

Scenes were Commodus (Jaquin Phoenix) lusts over his sister Lucille (Connie Neilson) are unintentionally funny and have about as much resonance with what little story Gladiator has as those of the senate ranting about what they're going to do with Rome.

The Colloseum fights are were the film really hits rock bottom. These loathesomely shot pieces of ruthless carnage are gratuitously bloody and devoid of either artistic or entertainment value. I wasn't so much disgusted or shocked as I was bored.

The films also serves an unfortunate epitaph for Oliver Reed who is given some of the films most tedious monologues to read out, you can almost feel his boredom.