Review: Gladiator Echoes Through Eternity.
- Feb 11, 2017
- 2 min read
Gladiator was the movie that took Russel Crowe and put him on the map. It's a tale of revenge and glory in the Roman Empire. Gladiator asks if we are entertained. I for one, most definetly am.
After a power struggle leaves Maximus (Russel Crowe) a slave gladiator, his life in the hands of Proximo (Oliver Reed), his owner. Maximus, a once great general swears revenge on the man who betrayed him and slaughtered his family, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) the new Emperor of Rome.
Gladiator is an excellent film though it is not without it's flaws. The acting from Crowe, Reed and Phoenix is excellent, as is that of the supporting cast. While Russel Crowe took home an Oscar, it's Joaquin who stands out, giving a performance which has forever changed the way I see him on screen. Oliver Reed also does well as the emotional centre of the film, an excellent part for what would be his final performance.
There's also plenty of solid action on display though it suffers from numerous tonal problems. The initial battles and the arena fights leading up to the Coliseum are gritty and brutal, giving the film a much darker feel. But the polished marble of Rome brings with it fights that are more glamorous and heroic and they never reach the same heights as those prior.
The films biggest problem comes from it's plot. Not the overarching story, that being one of revenge and honour, but a political subplot that is entirely unnecessary and serves only to lengthen an already long movie.
But the best the part is Hans Zimmer's score. It is easily his best and arguably one of the greatest musical feats of modern cinema. It swells to crescendos and builds emotions like so few others.
Gladiator isn't perfect but it's one of the best Ridley Scott has ever done. The issues are small enough to ignore and hardly detract from what is otherwise an excellent film.
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