 Italy
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 Italy:
Rome, Naples & the Amalfi Coast
 Gladiator
Amazon.com
- A big-budget summer epic with money to burn and a scale worthy
of its golden Hollywood predecessors, Ridley Scott's Gladiator
is a rousing, grisly, action-packed epic that takes moviemaking
back to the Roman Empire via computer-generated visual effects.
While not as fluid as the computer work done for, say, Titanic,
it's an impressive achievement that will leave you marveling at
the glory that was Rome, when you're not marveling at the glory
that is Russell Crowe. Starring as the heroic general Maximus,
Crowe firmly cements his star status both in terms of screen presence
and acting chops, carrying the film on his decidedly non-computer-generated
shoulders as he goes from brave general to wounded fugitive to
stoic slave to gladiator hero. Gladiator's plot is a whirlwind
of faux-Shakespearean machinations of death, betrayal, power plays,
and secret identities (with lots of faux-Shakespearean dialogue
ladled on to keep the proceedings appropriately "classical"),
but it's all briskly shot, edited, and paced with a contemporary
sensibility. Even the action scenes, somewhat muted but graphic
in terms of implied violence and liberal bloodletting, are shot
with a veracity that brings to mind--believe it or not--Saving
Private Ryan, even if everyone is wearing a toga. As Crowe's nemesis,
the evil emperor Commodus, Joaquin Phoenix chews scenery with
authority, whether he's damning Maximus's popularity with the
Roman mobs or lusting after his sister Lucilla (beautiful but
distant Connie Nielsen); Oliver Reed, in his last role, hits the
perfect notes of camp and gravitas as the slave owner who rescues
Maximus from death and turns him into a coliseum star. Director
Scott's visual flair is abundantly in evidence, with breathtaking
shots and beautiful (albeit digital) landscapes, but it's Crowe's
star power that will keep you in thrall--he's a true gladiator,
worthy of his legendary status. Hail the conquering hero!
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