Gladiator

Ridley Scott’s Gladiator follows the story of fictional Roman war general, Maximus. Maximus is a highly respected general in the Roman army who holds a great friendship with Emperor Marcus Aurelius in the film. As the war looks to be ending, Maximus would like to return home to his family as he has not seen his wife and son in almost 3 years. The Emperor would look like Maximus to succeed him as the leader of Rome, but Maximus is hesitant on taking his offer. At the same time, Commodus, Marcus Aurelius’s son, has big aspirations to take the throne from his father, and upon hearing that Maximus will be named the next leader of Rome, Commodus kills his father and frames Maximus for the murder. After this, Maximus is sent off to be killed, but he kills the soldiers who attempt to kill him and he journeys home. He sees that his family has been murdered and his land burned and this is when his plan for vengeance starts. Maximus is picked up by a merchant who sells slaves, and Maximus is ultimately sold to a man named Proximo. Proximo purchases Maximus along with other slaves to fight in the gladiator pit in his province. Maximus becomes a formidable force and fan favorite there, so when Commodus who has taken the throne of Rome, decides there needs to be 150 days of games, Proximo takes Maximus and the other gladiators to fight in Rome. Right away Maximus becomes the fan favorite because of expertise and his defiance towards the king. Commodus is shocked to see Maximus is alive again and does everything in his power to try and get him killed in the gladiator fights, but Maximus always prevails. Later on, with the help of his former servant, Cicero, and Commodus’s sister, Lucilla, Maximus attempts to overthrow Commodus and put Gracchus in power to restore the Republic. He also wants to escape to meet up with his men so they can fight Commodus’s army. This plan is foiled and Maximus is imprisoned once again, but Commodus wants to kill him himself. They fight in front of the crowd, but Maximus is able to beat the man who ordered his family’s death and complete his plan for vengeance. Gracchus is put in power and Maximus reunites with his family in the afterlife.

This movie portrayed themes of vengeance, power, and resilience. I was happy to see that Maximus was able to complete his plan of trying to restore the Republic and killing Commodus. Maximus never gave up and knew what it was gonna take in order to complete his plan. Even when the odds were stacked against him he never backed down and always showed true resilience.