Gladiator (2000) 7/10

Starring : Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou
Director : Ridley Scott
Running Time : 148 mins

Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridias (Crowe) finds himself betrayed by the jealous heir to the throne, Commodus (Phoenix). He and his family are sentenced to death, but Maximus manages to escape death, instead being forced into slavery. As a slave he is trained as a gladiator, and decides to use his time in the Coliseum to exact his revenge against the now Emperor Commodus.

Although the fight scenes in this movie were very impressive, I found the movie dragged on for too long with very little progress along the way. Phoenix did stand out as Commodus, making the sickly character seem very realistic, but Crowe was too one dimensional and, although this was the right way to go with the character, not very sympathetic.

You’ll like this if you liked : Braveheart