Gladiator (2000) * * *

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Starring:  Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Richard Harris, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou

Gladiator won the 2000 Oscar for Best Picture and also notably a Best Actor Oscar for Russell Crowe.  It is an action movie that does its job well and satisfies the masses, but Best Picture?    Gladiator is a People's Choice Award Winner to be sure, but in a normal year, Gladiator might not have even made the cut as a Best Picture nominee.   In 2000, the other nominees were Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Traffic, Erin Brockovich, and Chocolat.    I think Traffic was better, but Gladiator won and that's that.  The other three films were fair at best.  It was a lean year.

Gladiator is a bit more brooding and downbeat than other action films.   This is likely because its hero Maximus (Crowe), a general in the Roman Empire turned gladiator/slave, lost his wife and child in an attack ordered by the vengeful Commodus (Phoenix).   Commodus is the son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (Harris), who favors Maximus over his own son to be the next ruler of the empire.    An incensed Commodus murders his father then leaves Maximus for dead, who is soon sold into slavery.  A slave in this era is doomed to fight as a gladiator versus other gladiators in the Roman Colosseum.  Maximus, with victory after victory, wins the crowd over and sets up a quandary for Commodus, who learns the gladiator's true identity as the man he left for dead.  Does Commodus simply kill the vengeful Maximus at the risk of upsetting the masses?   If he did, this would be a much shorter movie and there would no impending showdown between Maximus and Commodus, which is the only satisfying conclusion one would expect.

A lot of Gladiator's visuals involve CGI in its infancy.   Even then, the lion Maximus and his crew must contend with in one battle looked pretty fake, but still the visuals get the job done.  The fight scenes are bloody and violent, naturally, but director Scott makes them rousing.   Maximus' plight and desire for revenge is one an audience can get behind and Crowe is a strong enough actor to allow us to see Maximus as not just a fighting machine.  There are plenty of politics afoot also in the film.     Now Emperor Commodus is at odds with his Senate because Rome is battling plague and poverty.     Commodus prefers resources to be used for the gladiator battles, while the Senate wants to make civic improvements.   The Senate leader Gracchus (Jacobi) hatches an overthrow of the emperor using Maximus as his point man.   Commodus' sister Lucilla (Nielsen) falls for Maximus and assists in the plot.  My guess is she doesn't care for her brother because he would love nothing more than to sleep with her. 

The actors are strong here.  Phoenix was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role and provides Gladiator with a snaky enough villain.   Crowe is physically imposing and sufficiently vengeful.   A Best Actor Oscar might have been a stretch, but I still admired the performance.  The actors and director Scott take what could have been a routine revenge picture and took care to make a good one.    It never transcends into greatness, mostly because nothing about the material would elevate it to such lofty heights.  But, it's worth a couple hours of your time.  That should be endorsement enough.