Gladiator (2000)
Definitely entertained.
Presentation:
One of Ridley Scott’s most notable films, we have the story of a betrayed hero climbing back his way toward vengeance through fighting as a gladiator. This is a pretty epic film, Rome looks beautiful and the world and cast are very culturally immersive. The visuals are very high contrast but what really stands out are the landscapes, shallow anamorphic and performances. This has the tone of an early blockbuster, but still delivers more than you’d expect. Russell Crowe is very easy to root for and Joaquin Phoenix is a believably insecure emperor. This is probably helped by the fact that he was extremely nervous and unprepared for the role, reportedly unprofessional and unconfident in his abilities. But we don’t see any of this on-screen as we instead are presented a vulnerable man with believable motivations.
Conclusion:
The film is quite long especially considering this is essentially boiled down to a simple revenge story. You can feel at some story arcs the dramatic elements are a bit drawn out for this reason. This unsurprisingly makes sense as to why the sequel didn’t perform very well, there isn’t a ton of material to go off of. But there is enough action and flair to make this experience fun enough as an entertaining albeit mindless TV experience. Still not as epic as Troy.
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Recommendations
Cinematography as sharp as samurai steel.