Gladiator was the greatest sports movie ever made

On sportswashing, stardom, and the mob

As you might have guessed from the header, this edition of The Chimera contains spoilers for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator.

Gladiator II is out next month. I’m on the fence as regards my expectations; I think that the trailers look like they’ve relied on shoddy CGI for too many shots (those awful baboons; that naval engagement in the Colosseum), and more impo…