The most impressive thing about this movie were the action scenes. In fact, they were so good, that at times I wondered whether the point of this movie was to portray the struggle of the ancient gladiators, or to conjure a Colosseum-like effect within the theatre audience -- invoke us all to applaud when our hero was victorious in games of mindless violence, rather than engender in viewers a sense of disgust at the injustice. I could've sworn I heard some of the people behind me joining in with the roars of the ancient Roman mob crowd. But then again, maybe it was just the lifelike digital surround sound system. :)

So, what was to like? Well, obviously, as I stated above, the action sequences were excellent. Filmed with good style and attention to visuals and sound. They did get my heart pumping.

What was not to like? On multiple occassions, I think it suffered from overacting. Despite the length of the movie, little time was spent on discovering the motivations of the characters, so a lot of the scenes which tried to convey great bursts of emotion felt hollow to me. That's not to say that there weren't some touching moments, because there were. Often, though, it seemed more like watching cartoon characters than real people.

The story, while fairly predictable, was engaging. At certain times, the pacing did seem rushed, despite the length of the movie. I guess they had a lot to squeeze into that two and a half hours. :)

Final prognosis: A good movie, but not an outstanding one. Worthy entertainment for the masses.