Gladiator Critique

Gladiator

In 2000, Ridley Scott was directing a movie that would soon come to be one of the best American films, Gladiator. Gladiator is an action film starring Russell Crowe as, Maximus Decimus Meridius. The movie displays multiple battle scenes as well as some scenes that are heart touching. [Despite the film's tremendous length, it is a great picture because of the acting and the artistic effects.]

The movie totals two hours and thirty-five minutes. While this is rather long, I believe it is necessary because the plot is very detailed. The movie starts with Maximus acting as an army general^ for the Emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius. When Aurelius' son, Commodus, hears that his father wishes for Maximus to take over as emperor, he kills his father. No one else hears Aurelius' wishes, so Commodus becomes emperor. When Maximus finds that his family has been murdered by Commodus' men, he is picked up by slave traders and is forced to become a gladiator. His goal is to seek revenge on Commodus, which he finally does in the end of the movie. If it were shorter, the film would seem condensed and would not be considered to be as great as it is.

The performances are some of the best that I have ever seen. The best performer of all is Russell Crowe. Crowe plays an army general, turned gladiator. It almost seems like he has to play two completely different characters, but he plays both outstandingly. The first character is a simple family man. All he wants is to go home, and see his family, which is made very clear. Then, his family is murdered and he is forced to become a gladiator. This is when he becomes a hard ass, and the best of his acting is displayed. Crowe convinces the viewers that he has the heart of a fighter, and makes it seem like he his actually in a fight for his life. As Maximus, he is thrown in the ring with obstacles such as horse drawn snipers and even some tigers. He overcomes them all though, which eventually leads to the final scene where Maximus and Commodus square off. This scene is epic, and the two characters' hatred for each other is shown. After Maximus kills Commodus, Maximus himself is laying in the middle of the Coliseum on the verge of death. This is when Crowe is faced with a challenge; he has to act like he's dying, while also carrying out Aurelius' final wishes. This was no obstacle for him, as he easily convinced that he was indeed dying. Crowe's amazing acting was perfect enough to win the Oscar for best actor in 2001.

Visual effects play a very large part in the success of this movie. One of the effects is the scenery. Not all movies can be shot on location.