From the opening scene, where a man is walking through a field running his
hand through the blades of grass, you get this certain feeling that you're
going to be watching a movie that's got more to it than simply blood and
battle. You feel as if you're about to embark on an epic story which will
change history itself.
That is the feeling of the movie Gladiator, directly by Ridley Scott and
starring Russel Crowe as the general-turned-slave-turned-gladiator Maxiumus,
and Jaoquin Pheonix as the Emperor of Rome. It is a movie of more-or-less
epic proportions with fight scenes just as impressive as those found in
Braveheart.
But then, the two are different countries in different time periods.
I say "more-or-less epic proportions" because there is something missing
within this movie to have it qualify as truly, 100% epic. I couldn't put
my finger on it while watching the movie, and I can't put my finger on it
as I write this review the day after on the opening weekend. The story
itself is quite simple: Maximus is a Roman general, greatly respected by
his men and, above all, by the Emperor himself. Pheonix is the Emperor's
son, who has enough personality flaws to make you want to run him through
after he's had only five minutes of screen time. The Emperor is dying, and
after a glorious (and I do mean that, it was amazing to watch) battle he
decides upon who shall succeed him: Maximus (he lead the troops into battle;
the Emperor's chicken-shit of a son didn't arrive until after the battle had
ended). He wants Maximus to turn Rome into a Republic again. His son just
wants the throne. So, what happens? Simple: he murders his father and
sends Maximus out to be killed.
What happens next is simple: Maximus escapes only to find his family dead,
having been murdered by the Roman army by orders of the new Emperor. No one
knows he's alive, though, and he collapses only to be captured by slave-
traders. He gets sold into the service of an old man who trains his slaves
to be gladiators.
Blah blah blah, training. Blah blah blah, fighting. Blah blah blah, big
gladiator tournament in Rome. Blah blah blah, fight for freedom and honour.
Suffice it to say, the movie is a tad predictable. Maybe this is where
it loses it's epic quality. Maybe it's just that it was never marketed as
being an epic movie. Maybe it's just that there really isn't enough
adventure to make this an epic movie. I can't say. But it has a near-epic
quality that still brings it alive.
The acting is fabulous, though. Pheanix is great as the Emperor, a little
coward who has virtually no control over his emotions. He cries like a
child and bellows madly with as much provocation as it takes to piss off
a bull when you're wearing all red. And even when he's not losing his cool
verbally you can tell he's lost it on the inside. He cannot hide his emotions
at all. It's a flaw in a ruler, and this ruler is one of the most flawed
you'll ever see on the big screen.
And then there's Crowe as Maximus. Maximus himself is a farmer-turned-soldier,
and no where is this better seen than in his eyes. With every moment there's
a certain sorrowful look to him. I've never seen gentler eyes in a man who can
slaughter an entire army of Germanics with ease. And when he becomes a
gladiator, when he's fighting not for Rome but only to survive, it's still
amazing to see the gentleness, the sorrow, in his eyes. You know he doesn't
want to kill. You know that all he wants is to be with his family. You know
all of this simply by looking into his eyes.
The battles are amazing, too. Cinematic and epic, that much is certain. Also
confusing. You're never really certain what is going on. There's a new filming
technique that they use (new to me, that is) during the fight scenes where
it's all cut-and-paste with the camera in constant motion. It's confusing and
it's impossible to tell what is happening, who is winning and who is losing.
At first this put me off, but then it clicked: This is what battle is really like.
None of it is clear-cut, it's chaotic as hell. Once this clicked in my head I
had an entirely new respect for the technique. Once you realize that real battle
is much like how it's filmed in this movie, then you enjoy the technique much more.
And there's no lack of blood in the battles, either. If there's one thing
that this movie and Braveheart have in common it's that they have amazing and
bloody battle sequences. Admittedly, Braveheart is much more graphic insofar
as limb severing goes, but there are many instances where a man's head gets
lopped off or someone (in one instance) actually gets cut in twain. But for
sheer military and tactical brilliance the battles are worth watching.
The movie is a historical fiction, mind you. There are historical facts written
inbetween the many flights of fancy. Chan (who I saw this with) was commenting
on that. There actually was a famous Roman general by the name of Maximus at the
time of that amazing battle in the opening moments of the movie, as there was an
Emperor by the same name of the old and dying Emperor at the beginning. I don't
know about the rest of the movie, but much of the armour is fairly accurate,
and the tactics used work.
Suffice it to say, though, that there's actually a story behind the bloodshed
and the historical facts. All due earlier mocking aside, the story is actually
quite intriguing and it compliments the bloodshed and the violence. It's all
political intrigue and deception and betrayal, which is what the movie's story
is all about: betrayal. A father who betrays his son, a son who betrays his father,
a sister who betrays her brother, and all the betrayal that goes with politics.
It's all here, and it's all good.
It's a near-epic action movie with political intrigue. A historical-fiction with
flights of fancy. An uplifting, engaging, and more-than entertaining movie that's
more than worth the price of admission.
"Death smiles at us all. All we can do is smile back."