Maximus the Gladiator (2012)

The Romans prepare to fight the Germanic tribes under the leadership of their general, Maximus. They are able to defeat them and are seen victorious by emperor Marcus Aurelius. The general and the emperor talk, and Maximum is told by the emperor that when he dies, he would like Maximum to become Rome’s next emperor, because the emperor’s current son, Commodus, would not be a good ruler. When Commodus finds out about what his father thinks, he smothers him with a pillow and feigns innocence. He then arrests Maximus and prepares for him to be executed; but Maximus kills the executioners. When he gets home, Maximus finds that the new emperor has killed his family. He buries them, then passes out, only to wake up as a slave. He is bought by Proximo and trained with the other slaves to fight. However, he refuses to fight, wanting death to end his suffering. When he is put in the arena, he finally fights, showing off his prowess. In Rome, Commodus decides to create a series of gladiatorial games in order to honor the death of his father. Proximo tells Maximus that he was once a slave too, and won his freedom as a gladiator. He takes Maximus to Rome for the gladiatorial games. In the early matches Maximus shows that he is a very capable fighter. Commodus goes down to meet the gladiator and recognizes that it is Maximus; but due to the popularity of Maximus with the crowd, Commodus cannot kill him. Lucilla, the sister of Commodus, speaks with Maximus, but he does not trust her. Maximus continues to win, and Commodus continues to be unable to find a way to kill him. Maximus, on the other hand, creates a plan to kill Commodus by buying his freedom, but he is rejected by Proximo. Lucilla begins to work with Maximus, but she is caught by her brother and reveals everything to him. Proximo then decides that he will let Maximus buy his freedom, and Maximus moves forward with his plan, but is captured. Commodus tells Maximus that they will fight, but stabs him in the back and covers the wound up when he and the crowd cannot see. Eventually they have a real fight, where Maximus kills Commodus but dies afterward due to his wound. This leads to Rome returning to a republic again. While the film was very entertaining and included some realistic elements, it was clear that it was not very closely based on real events.