Fight Clip Club: Gladiator

Are you not entertained?!

I caught the trailer for the new Gladiator II movie coming out recently on the sound-off TV at the pub the other day and was disappointed by the overuse of hollow CGI that was already apparent just in that short preview. And so I thought I’d do this climactic fight from the first Gladiator movie, to continue to analyze what I mean (thanks also to you few, you happy few, who voted on this one when I asked on Notes and Threads).

My partner felt the same way, seeing that trailer as a giant fan of the original film himself. He asked why it’s so bad-looking and why, in 2024, the CGI would be used that much in the first place. I summarized a bit as far as how much cheaper it can be, and how much easier to create than analog stunts. Also (when considering The Matrix and other older movies with heavy CGI mixed in their stunts), that most older films, even if they do use some digital effects, are still (often perforce) mostly done practically, or at the very least are more balanced.

My view of CGI use in fights is the following: I’m all for it, if it’s enhancing a practical stunt. Examples: erasing safety gear or wires visible on a stunt actor; adding muzzle flash to the end of a theatrical firearm; smoothing out wound effects done with prosthetics; adding surrounding effects and mood tweaks like what was used in tandem with that spiral of still cameras that The Matrix revolutionized, that sort of thing. I tend to find that fights that are all animated, like those in the Marvel Universe, in Wonder Woman (2017), look like they’re fake. The bodies have no weight to them, the movements no…well, movement. I’d rather see an actual animated combat, like in a cartoon or animé or in a video game like Assassin’s Creed or the lovely Batman games from the 20-teens, than a sloppy mess slapped onto a live likeness of an actor. In fact, I’d rather see the wires and see how the fight is in fact fake, more than one that’s all CGI, no human. 

I have a sinking feeling that with the world’s new obsession with AI, this problem will only get worse before it gets better. But. The movie I’m talking about today doesn’t have this issue, the way its sequel seems to (of course, I’ll check it out and get back to you before I form more opinions). Let’s check out the climactic fight from Gladiator and talk about it, yeah? Meet me after the paywall.