seamus-15

I was deeply moved by this movie, certainly the most powerful in the Trilogy. I especially like the way Elliot treats the subject of disease as though it were a character trait. The timing between the narration and claymation is very effective. Watching this tragicomedy a second time, I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. Most claymation movies are light-hearted and silly. I never thought claymation could be used to spark such intense emotion but I guess it's the artist behind the medium who should truly be commended.

The first thing that strikes you are the special effects. The computer graphics are superb in this film, it's nice to see state of the art cgi technology bring the past to life. At the start of the movie, you really get an amazing sense of the power of Roman artillery when they attack a barbarian tribe with catapults and flaming arrows. The film also unveils the Colosseum with attention to detail and Roman architecture. Besides the special effects, Gladiator has dialogue that resounds Shakespeare; a heart-wrenching lost-love story; lots of fight scenes; and a well packed moral dealing with wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance.

This movie has no life, which means no mystery, no suspense, no intrigue, no goal, no reason to be, no clue, nothing. It really does manage to capture the stale pace of death. While watching the movie you really do feel as though you were dead or wish you were dead. Brad Pitt treats his character like a six year old, and Anthony Hopkin's character is well portrayed but in a totally different dimension from the rest of the characters. I felt no love between Forlani and Pitt perhaps because there wasn't any since the movie has no life!