THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
There are certain ways to live life, either thrive like a leader or fight like a Gladiator.
PLOT
The 2000 film takes place in 180 AD and follows Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius. After a successful victory against the Germanic tribes, he intends to return to his home in Turgalium and reunite with his wife and son. That plan is delayed however due to Emperor Marcus Aurelius telling him first he will be his successor and restore the Roman Republic, as his son Commodus is unfit to be. Angered of this once he’s told, Commodus strangles his father without any witnesses, staging it as if he died in his sleep. As he proclaims the throne, he requests Maximus’ loyalty, but the general refuses. As a result, he is arrested by the praetorian guard and be executed alongside his family. He does escape, but doesn’t return home in time to save his loved ones. After he buries them both, he succumbs to a wound he received during his escape and passes out. As that happens, he would be picked up by slave traders and taken to Zuccabar where he would be trained to be a gladiator by a trainer named Antonius Proximo. Due to his success in local tournaments, he would popularly be nicknamed ‘Spaniard’ and befriend other gladiators named Juba & Hagen. He and Proximo’s list of gladiators would go to Rome as part of Commodus’ organized 150 days of gladiatorial combat to commemorate his father. Because he was freed by Marcus himself, Proximo gives Maximus the advice to win over the crowd which could win his freedom. In his debut at the Colosseum, he dons a masked helmet and wins a reenactment of the Battle of Zama. The match would impress Commodus’ nephew Lucius (Spencer Treat Clark), but would shock the emperor and his sister Lucilla as Maximus unmasks himself and reveals to be alive. Even after vowing vengeance for his loss, Commodus is compelled by the crowd to let him live since he does not want him to be a martyr. By night, Maximus gets a visit from Lucilla as they used to be lovers, gives her condolences of his loss since she didn’t know her brother would do that. As she fears him, she offers her help but the general turned gladiator turns her down. When having lunch, he worries of his food being poisoned until Hagan tries it himself and proves it to be un-tainted, thus ensuring the emperor won’t go that low in wanting to kill him yet. Maximus then prevails on the 64th day of the games against the undefeated Tigris of Gaul (Sven-Ole Thorsen)with the stipulation of being surrounded by tigers. His decision to spare his life in defiance dons him the nickname, ‘The Merciful’. Since this angers Commodus, he taunts his rival of the death of his family but the gladiator resists the urge to strike him. When later encountering his ex-orderly Cicero (Tommy Flanagan), the latter informs him he still has legions loyal to him. With his help, he reaches out to Lucilla and Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) to arrange an escape in which he’ll rejoin the legions in Ostia to topple Commodus and hand power back to the Senate. Before the plan goes in motion, Maximus shares his last kiss with Lucilla. It doesn’t go as planned due to the emperor having every Senator be followed. As a result, the praetorians arrest Gracchus for treason and kill Proximo & most of his men including Hagan during Maximus’ escape. Must as he rendezvouses with Cicero, his friend is killed as well and he is recaptured. After this, Commodus decides to challenge him in a duel hoping to win back public approval but beforehand, he stabs him rival while handcuffed to gain an advantage. Surprisingly, Maximus is still able to disarm him, overpower him and extract vengeance by drive a knife into his throat. Despite the emperor’s request of the praetorian, they refuse to intervene. Only after this does the gladiator does he succumb to his wounds but before drawing his last breath, he asks for political reforms, emancipation of his remaining gladiator allies and Gracchus to be reinstated as Senator. As he dies, he envisions joining his family in the afterlife and unlike the emperor, his body is carried out of the Colosseum as a soldier of Rome. The film ends with Juba burying figurines of Maximus’ figurines in the arena before returning to his own home in Carthage.
THOUGHTS
The beginning of the 21st century is where Hollywood in our very eyes because it was a true new era in finding creative ways of storytelling. Director Ridley Scott knew he had to create new expectations and boy did he make them so high because this was an action film that was exhilarating to watch from top to bottom. Each battle is so captivating to a great combo of Pietro Scalia’s editing and John Mathieson’s cinematography, you almost think you feel each blow that’s sent. You already expect Janty Yates to make amazing costumes to make the story’s setting, but it’s the production design and visual effects that truly sell it that were in a trip form the past that is Ancient Rome. It’s hard to not be in awe of the Colosseum an arena itself that is a spectacle. Even the score by both Lisa Gerrard & Hans Zimmer gave the right amount of chills to define how epic this thing is. With all great aspects, I deem this to be my favorite of Scott’s filmography because he and the writing team of David Franzoni, John Logan & William Nicholson are able to tell a tale that says leaders can come from unexpected places. It is important to understand otherwise you won’t be able to be part of the next generation that can help the world evolve for the better. We see two sides of the coin that have different perspectives in life and because of that, they are bound to be a rivalry that will shake the world as they know it. Russell Crowe is phenomenally great as Maximus in his only Oscar winning performance because before losing all he cared about, he was a guy that was all about integrity and motivated everyone to be as fearless as him. This way he’s able to lead by example and treat people as equals, it’s hard to not be in awe of him and easily support the idea of him leading Rome. Richard Harris was so majestic as Marcus because he came off humble and saw that in his own general. Sharing this and the dignity that felt empty in the senate, he saw him as the only one to lead Rome to a vision appropriate to him. Sadly, his own flesh & blood didn’t take it lightly. Joaquin Phoenix was straight up terrifying as Commodus because he lets this illogical entitlement get the best of him and trigger a descent into madness. The second he kills his dad, his morals flew out the window as he ordered Maximus’ family to be killed. He hates him because he knows he’s everything he isn’t and it gets to his skin, especially when his nephew idolizes him instead. It even gets worse that he was never meant to lead as everyone in Rome notices he doesn’t have the matching strategy his dad had. If all of this wasn’t enough, his incestuous love for his sister will piss you off the most. You even get riled up when he does a cheap shot on Maximus. And despite the satisfaction you feel when the emperor is defeated, it’s still devastating that Maximus dies because he didn’t have the exact fighting chance he had at that point. And off of all the honor he embraced, you wished he had more time to fight for his life which he was already doing. Since Marcus’ wishes got to be fulfilled, it’s fair to say neither of their deaths were in vain. And due to how Maximus was expressed the most nobility throughout, you would think that the world ran out of good people. Thankfully, Maximus still had people that had big hearts of their own. Connie Nielsen was captivating as Lucilla because she had this unspoken empathy and openly empresses it as things get worse. She does it more genuinely because she does it to protect herself and her son from her deranged brother, coming off as a peacemaker to restrain his corrupt thoughts. It take a while to pick up on the fact she had an affair with Maximus as the only time it’s confirmed is when she shares the fact Lucius is the same age as Maximus’ son at Turgalium. Overall, it seems to me that her love for him was genuine as well because she admires his compassion that is lacking in the senate, which is why she’s as heartbroken as we are when he dies. With the decisions she makes in the sequel, you can hope she does it for the greater good. Moving on, you can say that both Djimon Hounsou & Ralf Moeller are standouts as Juba & Hagan respectively due to how they’re right behind the lead protagonist in terms of having a fighting spirit. However, it’s really Oliver Reed that is the scene stealer compared to them. As Proximo, he was a gruff veteran who had his own wisdom to give towards Maximus when it came to wanting to survive. He gives this because he saw himself in him and sacrificed himself because he trusted what he had in mind. And not even his death was in vain since the vision went through as it should have. Even if things change drastically by the time of the sequel, it doesn’t take away the positive legacy that was made by those who wished for prosperity. This movie will continue to hold up for years to come, but even great stuff like this have questionable moments. For example, Maximus has a good hunch that Commodus killed Marcus but where is the proof? Without that, he was bound to go through a rough journey with a hunch. Also, how has not one soldier recognized him during his travel to Rome? The only time Maximus was hiding was when he was wearing the helmet on his debut, and only one says a word but he dies during the fight which is bullshit. It even gets surprising that after he reveals himself, the public doesn't demand his freedom because they want to see him keep fighting. And if officer Quintus (Tomas Arana) lied to Commodus, he is way too lucky to be alive as well. Other than that, this movie still holds up for what it is. In conclusion, Gladiator is one of the best movies of all time for showing how epic one can be, earning the Best Picture Oscar in the process. If historical dramas are your cup of tea, see this now.
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