3. It Tells A Timeless, Flawlessly Structured Story
That said, in between the action scenes Gladiator does tell a compelling character-driven human drama, and does a stellar job at doing so. This is one of the film's aspects that seems to get the most flak, but I can't for the life of me understand why. Sure, at its core Gladiator tells a revenge story the likes of which we have seen many times before. But it tells it so damn well, I fail to see what all the fuss is about! Structurally, Gladiator adheres to Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey as strictly as Star Wars or Harry Potter did: The call to action, the elderly mentor (Oliver Reed's character), the false victory at the end of act II that is swiftly shut down, putting the protagonist in a place even lower than ever before (in Gladiator, Maximus is imprisoned) before launching into the third act climax. But by maximizing the stakes and the obstacles for the characters, Scott and screenwriter John Logan ensure that the most dramatically satisfying story unfolds before us. These elements are too often ignored in modern Blockbusters for the sake of spectacle and fan service - which is a shame, because they are essential for emotional investment in a film. Maximus isn't just some guy - he's a general, the star of the Roman army, and the poster child of emperor Marcus Aurelius. Commodus' betrayal is caused not by blind evil, but by jealousy - just one of the factors contributing to Commodus's status as one of the great cinematic villains of our time. Maximus is not just stripped of his rank and sold in the slave trade. No, his wife and child are brutally raped and murdered as well. We are dying for him to seek vengeance... and yet here he is, a slave, stuck in the middle of some godforsaken village in North Africa. There is no fat, no extraneous material or unnecessary scenes. Every single beat in the script is flawlessly planted to further the story and to maximize stakes and obstacles for the characters - and not a single beat is missed.