In the 24 years since the original Gladiator, director Ridley Scott has helmed an eclectic list of films. From the woefully underrated Alien prequels to a divisive Cormac McCarthy adaptation and the campy House of Gucci, there’s been something for everyone. Now, Scott returns to the Colosseum for another sword-and-sandals epic, and it has about everything you’d expect from a follow-up film.
Gladiator II
has epic arena fights, stirring performances, and lush visuals, but the most surprising thing of all is how funny it is. Taking notes from the wry humor of last year’s Napoleon, Scott fully leans into the absurdity of Rome and its gladiatorial tradition, installing twin emperors raised by a literal wolf at the head of a crumbling empire that Denzel Washington’s deliciously devious schemer seeks to destroy.
Gladiator II Is A Damn Good Time At The Movies
Denzel Washington Is The Film’s MVP
Gladiator II follows a similar structure to its predecessor up to a point — Paul Mescal’s wayward warrior lives with his wife in Numidia when their city is attacked by Romans, and Lucius is taken prisoner after his wife is killed. He has his sights set on Pedro Pascal’s General Acaceus, a celebrated military leader beloved by Rome and its two emperors, Fred Hechinger’s Caracalla and Joseph Quinn’s Geta.
Macrinus is perhaps one of the more well-written characters in the film, too, which gives Washington more to work with than his counterparts.
Mescal’s Lucius gets numerous arena scenes that are as thrilling as anything Scott has ever directed. It’s what’s happening outside the arena, though, that is somehow more compelling. When Lucius falls in with Washington’s Macrinus, it seems like a perfect match. Macrinus will deliver Acadeus’s head to Lucius as long as Lucius fights for him.
Macrinus only uses Lucius’s fight for cover, though. Really, he’s there to bring the whole thing down and, in the process, Washington delivers a magnetic turn that steals the entire film. The seasoned actor chews up every scene he’s in, balancing menace and absurdity in a way that teeters fully into comic territory. Macrinus is perhaps one of the more well-written characters in the film, too, which gives Washington more to work with than his counterparts.
Gladiator II Stays In The Shadow Of The First Film
Its Dedication To Maximus Is The Film’s Biggest Weakness
When Gladiator II tries to lean into the gravitas of the first film, it tends to lose its balance. After revealing that Lucius is Maximus’s son in a trailer, we watch the film knowing this information, but it remains unclear if Lucius is also clued in. Without this, Lucius (who goes by another name for a portion of the film) is a bit of a cipher, his every decision made in the shadow of Russell Crowe’s character without the emotional weight of this knowledge.
It’s only made worse by the fact that Mescal isn’t given much to do besides fight and, though the fights are glorious, it can’t help but feel like a waste of the formidable star. Pascal ends up in a similarly thankless role, all of this underscoring the story that Scott seems most interested in — the machinations of Macrinus and Rome’s psychotic emperors.
Related
Paddington in Peru Review: You Know You Have A Great Franchise When This Charming Sequel Is As Bad As It Gets
Paddington’s third outing sees a major change to the dynamic, like this review, which includes the thoughts of a 7-year-old guest pundit.
Scott gets to tell both stories, but Gladiator II really soars when it does the unexpected and, for the most part, that only happens when Washington, Quinn, and Hechinger are onscreen. It doesn’t make for a well-rounded film, but it does make for an entertaining one. For all its faults (of which there are only a few), Scott is still fully in control of this massive undertaking, letting his contemporary sensibilities bleed into the gravity of the past.
Gladiator II releases in theaters on November 22. The film is 148 minutes long and rated R for strong bloody violence.
8/10
Gladiator 2 is the follow-up to Ridley Scott’s award-winning film Gladiator from 2000. Scott returns to direct the sequel, with Paul Mescal staring as Lucius, alongside Denzel Washington and Joseph Quinn as the villain Emperor Geta. Gladiator 2 had been stuck in development hell for years before a script written by David Scarpa finally moved forward.
- Gladiator II is an epic film that almost lives up to the name of its predecessor.
- Denzel Washington steals the show with a gonzo performance.
- Lush visuals and epic fights make for a breathtaking blockbuster.
- Gladiator II can’t quite shake the shadow of its predecessor.
- Under-written characters hurt what is otherwise a solid story.