GLADIATOR II REVIEW

“If Scott decides to make a third movie, I’ll be there for sure.”

25 years ago, filmmaker Ridley Scott redefined the Roman epic as made famous in films like Spartacus and Ben Hur with Gladiator going on to win many Oscars, including Best Picture. It’s hard to believe that it took almost 25 years to come up with an idea for the sequel simply called Gladiator II, which isn’t meant to be something negative about the results. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

We meet Paul Mescal’s soldier-turned-farmer as he’s living with his wife in Numidia, North Africa, before his community is called into action when his home is invaded by the Roman army, led by Pedro Pascal’s General Marcus Acacius. She’s killed in the battle and Mescal’s bent on revenge, so he travels to Rome under the guise as a gladiator and begins working his way up the ranks encountering the ongoing corruption within the city’s politics.

There’s so much from the original movie that’s slightly twisted and changed for this sequel, one of the most notable ones being the fact that Russell Crowe’s character has essentially been split into two separate characters. Although the first half of the film involves a mental and later physical conflict between Lucius and Marcus, their characters are still serving the same general means. The corrupt Emperor played by Joaquin Phoenix is now replaced by evil twin Emperors, played by Joseph Quinn (A Quiet Place: Day One) and Fred Hechinger (Thelma), who are abusing their power just as much as their predecessor was. Denzel Washington’s character Macrinus is a bit of a disruptor, setting up many of the machinations that will build to the film’s third act, and he does far more than his role merely being in charge of the gladiators than the Oliver Reed character from Gladiator. 

Although the Colosseum scenes are still the highlights of the film, the way that the different subplots come together offers much of how the sequel keeps the viewer involved. I have to give a special shout-out to Connie Nielsen, one of just two returning actors – if you don’t include the Spencer Treat Clark scenes as the young Lucius either directly taken from the first Gladiator or possibly even a few outtakes. Her character is given much more to do this time, including an emotional reunion with her son. Both Mescal and Pascal are quite good, but it’s impossible not to deny the scene stealing quality that Washington brings to every scene every time he’s on screen. Even so, I feel that putting all the adulation towards the cast solely on Washington is unfair, since the others more than hold their own.

Needless to say, Gladiator II looks spectacular, with Scott working with many of his talented creative collaborators from the past few decades. The big below-the-line star for the film is four-time Oscar nominated Production Designer Arthur Max and his team, who help make every set-up shot really jump out. Having spoken to Max for Napoleon last year, I know about his meticulous research into the times, and yet, I still laughed so loud when we cut to a scene in the Colosseum where the entire structure has been turned into a giant water tank with battleships and even sharks swimming around in the water.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t any problems posed by Scott’s decision to return to Rome, one of them being some of the wonkier visual effects, particularly one of the gladiator scenes involving rabid monkeys that look so silly it’s a section that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Either way, Scott is clearly a better filmmaker now than he was 25 years ago, and that shows in every scene in Gladiator II, where the pacing is so dynamic that the movie’s two and a half hour run time goes by fairly quickly.

That aside, Gladiator 2 proves that Ridley Scott still knows the way to entertain viewers in whatever genre he decides to play in, even when he returns to the world of one of his most beloved 21st Century films. The movie doesn’t veer too far from any formula created in the first movie, but Denzel and Connie Nielsen do an especially good job contributing to the mythology. If Scott decides to make a third movie, I’ll be there for sure.

Rating: 8.5/10

Gladiator II opens nationwide on Friday, November 22.