 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! |
