‘I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next...’
There are many reasons to decry modern cinema. The decline of mid-budget films for adults. The rise of homogenous CGI slop. Streamers flooding the market with trash. But as I sat watching Gladiator for only the second time, it occurred to me that there isn’t an actor in the world right now who could play Maximus Decimus Meridius like Russell Crowe does here. And that is a problem…
The beauty of the plot of Gladiator comes from its simplicity. It is a tale of vengeance. Nothing more. Nothing less. We have the sinner (Joaquin Phoenix), the sinned against (Crowe) and an exceptional supporting cast featuring Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi and erm… Omid Djalili.
To see Crowe parading across the Colleseum here is to experience pure cinema. His intensity. His presence. His massive arms. All utterly unstoppable. The screenplay (credited to David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson) is pretty damn perfect, with Crowe given the opportunity to espouse some of the greatest action movie dialogue ever written. His opening speech really is a sight to behold. Just as Crowe is heroism personified, Phoenix is suitably hateful and slimy – like a disgusting toad that has crawled its way through the mud to emerge at the surface covered in filth – a classic antagonist. But this is Crowe’s movie and Ridley Scott knows it. We are treated to so many close-ups of Maximus that I could still feel Crowe’s piercing blue eyes looking deep within me even as I lay down to sleep. I think I love him a little bit.
Ridley Scott is an inconsistent filmmaker of that there is no doubt, but when he is firing on all cylinders like he is here (see also: Alien) he is up there with the greats. Gladiator is a timeless classic that harks back to the golden age of sword-and-sandals epics whilst also feeling modern… vital even. This is cinema.
