Russell Crowe is quickly becoming one of the finest actors we have. Don’t you think? (Personally, I’ve liked his work ever since THE QUICK AND THE DEAD.) And an equally impressive cast joins in the venture, including Joaquin Phoenix, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou and the late Oliver Reed. It’s obvious too that Phoenix is giving his all, despite the clearly difficult character he had to play. But without question, Oliver Reed shines bright in his final performance. I understand that special effects were used to complete some of his scenes. Scary! But while many of these same effects are obviously ambitious, they’re not totally convincing and hardly foolproof. Let’s put it this way, when elder family members even notice how fake something looks, then everybody else will too.

      Ultimately, only half of GLADIATOR bears witnessing, while the other half is in desperate need of revamping. The first hour is sheer boredom and almost a cure for insomnia. Once the action reaches Rome though, everything picks up and the movie is everything you thought it would be. But then it all sinks back into mediocrity again with a conclusion that’s almost absurd. (Plot spoiler coming!) Late in the film, Crowe’s character formulates a plan for his escape, but it doesn’t succeed. The reason why is probably the silliest of all. Structure simply ends up being the biggest flaw. His plan should’ve succeeded and the battle in the beginning moved to the end.

      GLADIATOR was eagerly expected to be one of the great films of 2000 and had every chance of being so. While it’s still good as is, most seem to agree, including myself, that it should’ve been more.