Visually this film is a real pleasure to watch. We see beautiful landscapes, luxurious palaces, impressive sets and anything but cheaply made costumes.
It is a pity that all these interesting things are irrevocably cancelled by the film's infuriatingly slow pace, tiresome scenes and poorly written characters. The leading duo, especially, is totally unconvincing. There is no spark, no chemistry between them, not to mention that some of the lines they exchange are downright silly. The supporting cast fares much better. In fact, I dare say that the supporting characters may be the only reason to keep watching the film after its first hour. Guinness and Mason show their remarkable skills and class, but the film's revelation is undoubtedly Christopher Plummer. His role as mad Emperor Commodus is largely caricatured, but Plummer plays it with so much emotion, that you almost feel sorry for him in the end.
But the film's biggest problem is probably the lack of focus and meaning. Despite its dramatic title, the film can't give us a clear answer as to what it's actually about. Is it about personal and political decay? About romance triumphing over every adversity? About peace and the devastating consequences of war and hate? About loyalty to a leader, even if this leader is clearly incapable? Or maybe it has something to do with embracing change and different cultures? In an attempt at being all of these things, the film sadly winds up being none of them. And all we are left with, in the end, is confusion and boredom.
I do admit that it makes an honest effort to highlight some of the key issues that troubled and ultimately sank the Ancient Roman Empire (such as leadership problems, rampant corruption, insubordinate military, petty ambitions, inequality, increasing hedonism and public indifference, incursions of foreign tribes), but there can be no doubt that the film has no idea how to approach those issues cinematically, so the end result is an extremely long and overly didactic epic that fails to engage us emotionally.
It is a pity that all these interesting things are irrevocably cancelled by the film's infuriatingly slow pace, tiresome scenes and poorly written characters. The leading duo, especially, is totally unconvincing. There is no spark, no chemistry between them, not to mention that some of the lines they exchange are downright silly. The supporting cast fares much better. In fact, I dare say that the supporting characters may be the only reason to keep watching the film after its first hour. Guinness and Mason show their remarkable skills and class, but the film's revelation is undoubtedly Christopher Plummer. His role as mad Emperor Commodus is largely caricatured, but Plummer plays it with so much emotion, that you almost feel sorry for him in the end.
But the film's biggest problem is probably the lack of focus and meaning. Despite its dramatic title, the film can't give us a clear answer as to what it's actually about. Is it about personal and political decay? About romance triumphing over every adversity? About peace and the devastating consequences of war and hate? About loyalty to a leader, even if this leader is clearly incapable? Or maybe it has something to do with embracing change and different cultures? In an attempt at being all of these things, the film sadly winds up being none of them. And all we are left with, in the end, is confusion and boredom.
I do admit that it makes an honest effort to highlight some of the key issues that troubled and ultimately sank the Ancient Roman Empire (such as leadership problems, rampant corruption, insubordinate military, petty ambitions, inequality, increasing hedonism and public indifference, incursions of foreign tribes), but there can be no doubt that the film has no idea how to approach those issues cinematically, so the end result is an extremely long and overly didactic epic that fails to engage us emotionally.