Plot
Because of its excellent handling of religion, well-written main antagonist, and the influence of romance, Gladiator (2000) is an epic worthy of the toga movie genre. To sum up the plot quickly, Gladiator is about a high-ranking general in the Roman army called Maximus. After the old emperor dies, his son (Commodus) betrays Maximus. He orders Maximus, his wife, and his son to be killed. Maximus survives, but his family doesn't. The rest of the movie is his journey as a gladiator and his vengeance on Commodus.
One of the most important parts of the plot was the role religion played. Unlike many other toga movies, religion didn't overpower any other aspects of the film even though it’s a central theme in the story. Maximus’ journey is centered around reuniting with his wife and son in the afterlife. Religion is an important theme in this story, but it’s more subtle than how movies like Quo Vadis (1951) or Ben-Hur (1959) use it. While both of those toga movies were heavy-handed with their religious (mainly Christian) themes and messages, Gladiator (2000) doesn’t specify the religion Maximus believes in. In one scene, Maximus and his friend, Juba, discussed their religions but they never named their religions and both agreed that they would meet their families there (picture 1).
Picture 1
In another scene, Maximus is scratching out his Roman army tattoo and Juba asks if it has something to do with his gods, to which Maximus gives a vague answer. Also, when Maximus has visions of his family in the afterlife, there are no identifying factors in the afterlife of which religion except for a large gate that blocks his way. The pearly gates are commonly envisioned in Christian versions of Heaven, but Maximus’s gate couldn’t really be described as “pearly” so again there’s only a small connection to Christianity (picture 2). In this way, the movie Gladiator has built upon what movies like Quo Vadis (1951) and Ben-Hur (1959) began.
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The second most important part of the plot was the extremely well-written villain, Commodus. Part of his appeal as the main antagonist is how easy it is to hate his character. Unlike Nero, from Quo Vadis (1951), Commodus isn’t amusingly incompetent (picture 3). He kills his own father to make his grab for power and he kills Maximus' family for no other reason than to cause Maximus pain. These are all very classic moves for a villain to make but there's also the shock value of Commodus being in love with his own sister (and maybe his nephew) that makes his character equal parts disturbing and morbidly interesting. He repeatedly forces himself on Lucilla and at one point watches her son while the kid sleeps. From the beginning, Commodus can be identified as a dangerous person because of his power and ambition, but also because of his slightly unhinged nature (picture 4). It makes him unpredictable, which in turn makes him a more terrifying villain.
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Picture 5
The third most important part of the plot was the influence romance had on the storyline (picture 5). After he loses his family early on in the movie, Maximus grieves the loss of his wife and son but still the story allows for some feelings to grow between Maximus and Commodus' sister, Lucille. This provides another issue for Commodus to have with Maximus as he believes Maximus stole his sister and love interest from him. Also, this is a parallel to Maximus being the old emperor's favorite between him and Commodus, which fuels Commodus' inferiority complex. Finally, the romance between Lucilla and Maximus is another thing for the audience to root for. A person watching this becomes more invested when the romance between Lucilla and Maximus is shown because it gives Maximus something to live for. It raises the stakes, because before that it didn’t matter to Maximus if he died as long as he got his revenge.