Review: The Jeep Gladiator. Are you not entertained?

It's a somewhat different direction for the off-road brand and we love it

But is it any good? Dimensions-wise it is epic. Though, what really surprised us aside from the car’s length was its height (almost up to two-metres). In the technical info Jeep call this model ‘midsize’. Well we don't know how they’d classify large because, even being substantially tall ourselves, the running board was more than necessary to clamber up into the vehicle’s commanding driving position. Once there, however, you are sat in the lap of luxury. Inside it's not so much ‘rugged adventurer’ as it is regal traveller’.

Seating five passengers in a spacious well-lit cabin, you’re up high, but could be forgiven for feeling you’re in a more traditionally sedate brand. The reason being the ride is supremely comfortable. As the driver you have all the usual tech at your fingertips and with the assists the truck is as good on the road as it is off it.

The Gladiator’s 3.6-litre V6 provides 285 horsepower and 347 Nm of torque, which is sufficient to get up to speed on the highway and, mated to an eight-speed gearbox, will pull you through the shifting sands. Other elements we particularly enjoyed included the blind-spot monitoring and rear cross path detection, forward-facing off-road camera, forward collision warning and ParkView rear backup camera with dynamic grid lines.

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You can drive a Gladiator off the forecourt from Dh179,000 including a host of maintenance extras. We suggest you take a look. And with that we’re done with only a couple of film references at the beginning. Are we not merciful?