Gladiator Film Review

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Rebecca Gayle 10B

Gladiator-“Are You Not Entertained?”

     Do you have some spare time on your hands? Are you feeling bored? Instead of wasting your time with your friends and family why not watch Ridley Scott’s latest film Gladiator; it will show you the true meaning of boredom; it will have you crying with frustration.

    The muscular Russell Crowe plays our hero, Maximus, a tough Roman general and a favourite of the dying Caesar, Marcus Aurelius (the elderly Richard Harris). Caesar’s last wish is that Maximus should be take charge of Rome until it is returned to the people’s rule. However the evil Commodus (the scrawny Joaquin Phoenix), Caesar’s son, wants to be the Emperor of Rome, so he brutally slays his father and sentences poor Maximus to a horrific execution. Maximus escapes, only to discover that his wife and son had been cruelly murdered. Captured, he becomes a slave in training to become a fearsome gladiator. In the arena he proves himself a top gladiator fighting many fierce, brutal and gruesome battles. This elevates him to the coliseum in Rome, where Maximus can pursue his revenge on the emperor, Commodus.    

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    Commodus, the ‘baddie’, also Caesar’s son, will do absolutely anything to become the Emperor of Rome, which includes killing his own father because he isn’t chosen to rule. How predictable!  Joaquin Phoenix’s acting is worse than Hilary Duff’s; easily making himself the most unbelievable character throughout the film. Fake emotion, along with fake tears, poured over his face in every single one of his crying scenes. Acting is all about putting across a convincing performance; I was not convinced in the slightest.

    Maximus, the ‘heroic’ character, has his wife and children violently murdered as he refuses ...

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