Gladiator has been applauded by practically every reviewer in Britain, with hardly a bad thing said against it. There is certainly a lot of good stuff during its three-hour duration, most notably the acting, and the CGI graphics, which have recreated Rome, as well as creating 60,000 spectators out of 2000 Maltese extras.

And it's impossible not to be bowled over by the sheer scale of it. Not only is it relatively long, but the locations and time spans makes the cinemagoer want to call it "epic", and it certainly does have some very memorable scenes, including the wonderful first battle scene. The acting is superb, most notably Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe, although the latter doesn't have a great deal to say.

Unfortunately, all the film's better points are let down by a leaden script, a very predictable story, and every cliche that Hollywood has ever come up with. Add to that a Karl Jenkins' Adiemus style soundtrack, and you get a goodish film that could have been great.

One thing that is sure to happen is the launch of Russell Crowe's career, and it is possible that Gladiator will do for Crowe what Titanic did for DiCaprio. It is said that Curtis Hanson chose Crowe to play a cop in LA Confidential, because at the time he was an unknown face, and audiences would not know whether to think of him as a good or bad guy.

If you can get a seat (probably a hard task, judging by the number of sold-out screenings at the weekend), then it is definitely worth seeing this film.

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