Review – Gladiator

Any big-budget epic about gladiators is probably going to invite comparison to Spartacus, but here the contrast provides a little genuine insight. Both films are certainly creatures of their times: Kubrick’s direction of Dalton Trumbo’s screenplay makes for a sermon on the struggle of the downtrodden working class against the heartless aristocracy, whereas Ridley Scott’s MTV-editing-intensive opus focuses more on post-Reagan-era “virtues” such as individual vengeance. Though the latter work doesn’t really come equipped with enough script to sustain its considerable running time, the action sequences are good enough to keep the movie going for the most part. The biggest disappointment of the film was a problem evident in many such outings: by the time the film-makers have spent three hours setting up the motive for bloody revenge (killed his wife, killed his son, kicked his dog, etc.), no bloody revenge is adequate. So come for Russell Crowe kicking much ass, but don’t feel like you have to stick around for much else. Mildly amusing