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The year: 180 AD. The place: the Roman front lines in Germania. The setting: preparations for battle against the German barbarians. The background: Romans need to defeat this last bastion of German resistance to win the war against the German tribes. This is how the Ridley Scott directed epic Gladiator begins. We have the hero Maximus (Russell Crowe, The Insider) leading his troops to victory over the German hordes. From there it is all down hill for our hero as his life turns upside down when Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix, 8MM) kills his own father, the emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris, Smilla's Sense of Snow). And though Aurelius wanted Maximus to lead Rome, Commodus seizes power and orders Maximus and his family dead. However Maximus escapes, but his wife and child do not escape the viscous power of the new ruler. Though free from the executioner, Maximus does become a slave and then gladiator for Proximo (Oliver Reed). Meanwhile in Rome, Commodus is busy consolidated his power and making sure the people of Rome love him by giving them the violent games that they adore. This puts Commodus and Maximus on a collision course, since Maximus becomes the best gladiator. Plus Commodus must also be careful of his sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, Mission to Mars) since she knows that he killed their father and what is more is that her son is the heir to the throne. While a gladiator, Maximus befriends many of his fellow gladiators including an African warrior by the name of Juba (Djimon Hounsou, Amistad). Juba is one of the few main characters to actually survive the whole ordeal. But anyway Maximus now has only one goal left in his life, vengeance. Maximus makes it his mission to somehow, someday kill Commodus in revenge for the deaths of his wife and son. Once Lucilla becomes aware of this, she seeks out Maximus's counsel so that she can help, the two were apparently intimate at some point in the past. She thinks that she can enlist the help of the Senate on behalf of Maximus to overthrow her brother and his evil reign. Will Maximus defeat Commodus? Will Maximus love again? Will Lassie come home? These answers and more when you see the movie. Gladiator is written by John Logan and David Franzoni, which is not a true story, but historical fiction. Some of the other actors in the film are Derek Jacobi as Gracchus, David Schofield as Senator Falco, Tomas Arana as Quintus, David Hemmings, Chris Kell, and Spencer Treat Clark as Cassius. Though the movie is extremely violent, I loved it. Not a lot of humor in the film, but that's not why I went to see this picture. It is a riveting epic that keeps you interested until the very end. Of course you sort of know what will become of Commodus, but what will happen to the others and what will become of Rome is left up in the air. Russell Crowe is great in the title role, and the rest doesn't matter much since the film focuses on him. The scenery is well done and it looks like you stepped back in time 2000 years. So for the About-Movies.com rating I give the dramatic Gladiator nine couches out of ten. And just if you were wondering, no nudity. Chow baby. Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:49:58 AM |
