The movie is fundamentally of that good versus evil, moral versus immoral, honour versus dishonour genre; the evildoer in this case is Caesar’s son, Commodus (Joaquim Phoenix). It is quickly evident that Commodus is a rather dubious and hateful character, and he initially strikes you as someone who would have been easy quarry for any schoolboy bully: short, whining, afraid of the dark and in an age, arguably, where fighting ability was the yardstick of one’s manliness, he eschews battle at all costs. And he does little to dispel this image throughout. Yet, whatever Commodus lacks in bravado he endeavours to compensate for in cunning, deceitfulness and malevolence, and it is not long into the film that Commodus begins to exert a calculating influence. Knowing that he is fast ailing, Caesar promptly informs his son that it is to be Maximus who is to succeed him as emperor, not Commodus — hitherto, Caesar had looked upon Maximus as more of a son than Commodus, doubtless due to the valour and courage Maximus consistently exhibited, and Maximus more than reciprocated these imperial sentiments. None too thrilled at this, Commodus, casting aside any notion of familial love, is quick to accelerate the dying process and promptly suffocates his father before Caesar has time to publicly announce his intentions for Maximus, making it seem as if his father has passed away quite naturally. Believing that he has accomplished the deed with the utmost of circumspection, Commodus is soon aware that Maximus is, in fact, all too alive to Commodus’ ambitions and treachery, and when Commodus invites Maximus to ally himself with his new emperor under the pretext of ridding Rome of conspiracy and subversiveness once and for all, Maximus refuses. Sentenced to death and escaping by turns, Maximus is recaptured by a profiteering gladiator master (Oliver Reed) and is put to work as a slave gladiator, and he ultimately seeks to avenge Commodus for Caesar’s murder, and that of his wife and son who had been crucified in the meantime, on the back of his obvious prowess on the gladitorial stage.

From hero to zero and then back to hero again, Crowe, who thus far has yet to have been the lead actor in a film, is magnificent at all stages in the picture and he is beginning to betray a solid acting range behind the accomplishments of his earlier projects, especially given the marked differences between his role as Maximus in this movie and those previously in LA Confidential and in The Insider. Stoical, single-minded, strong and silent, and, above all, heroic, Crowe is extremely convincing as a man wronged seeking retribution. At times, Maximus’ overt physicality is frightening; at other times, his emotional anguish is both palpable and pitiable, particularly in the context of his lost family. And at all times you feel that he will overcome the odds and triumph, yet not in the kind of absurdly improbable fashion which Rambo-style figures have done so in past action films. It is all the more to Crowe’s credit that he pulls off such a splendid performance, since the script is fairly weak, the dialogue is overwritten, mawkish even on occasion, and Phoenix’s own performance is somewhat lacking: rarely do you feel the depths of Commodus’ utter contempt for Maximus, nor do you ever really witness the sheer malice of Commodus’ underhand connivances and methods to subvert justice as maybe you should, and that Commodus, not even a novice fighter, should challenge Maximus, gladiator supreme and a man sporting a name which ought to suggest to most that a wide berth needs to be steered around this man, is silliness. As a consequence of the script limitations, the plot is quite uncomplicated, linear and necessarily deprived of a certain richness.

In the final analysis, it must be said that Gladiator does betray a few niggling weaknesses. Notwithstanding these gripes, however, the film does make for superb entertainment and, ultimately, the film’s success is owing to Crowe’s measured lead debut performance. Coupled with this, the late Oliver Reed, as Proximo, turns in some solid acting and Richard Harris is again reliable, albeit in the briefest of parts. More than this, though, the cinematography is both engaging and transporting, simultaneously making you feel that you are in the midst of the action and carrying you along at a frenetic pace, and Scott has undoubtedly recaptured his directorial mastery which has been absent in his recent films.
For once, the word epic can rightly be applied to the film Gladiator.