Film Review: Gladiator II

3 Stars

By Joseph Beyer | Nov. 30, 2024

Ridley Scott is one of the most prolific Hollywood directors, with a whopping list of 60 iconic films notched into his career belt, including the cultural phenomenon Gladiator, which won Best Picture at the 2001 Academy Awards. It was a rare moment as the film wasn’t honored in either the Original Screenplay category (that went to Almost Famous), or Directing (that went to Steven Soderbergh for Traffic). Scott was snubbed, but the film was a smash hit.

Much of the original Gladiator praise was focused on the star turn of actor Russell Crowe, who took home the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar for his intense and gritty portrayal of Maximus, a military man who becomes a slave and must fight for his life and freedom in the blood soaked sands of the Colosseum. More than a film, Gladiator became a cultural touchpoint and a meme for the male-dominated fascination with the Roman Empire.

Gladiator II arrives in theatres with huge anticipation and hype (even for today’s high-stakes sequels). Sporting a production budget reported to be a quarter of a billion dollars, a marketing spend of $100 million, and an opening weekend on over 3,500 screens, it’s all very epic.

But is it entertaining? I would argue, not so much this time.

That’s because after the shock and awe of the original (which included effects and CGI that brought the gladiator games to life on the big screen in a way never done before), there’s a certain been-there-done-that feeling of returning to a plot that is shockingly similar to the original. Running 2 hours and 28 minutes, Gladiator II is laborious at times, promising at others, but proves ultimately that you can’t bottle Jupiter twice.

There is no terra incognita here as II continues the narrative with overlapping characters, the familiar setting of the Colosseum, along with flashbacks to Maximus’ legacy in the gladiatorial arts and untimely death in the original. Fans of blood-spattered violence and unhinged demonic animals will not be disappointed. The movie even brings to life the flooding of the arena for the naumachia, adding ferocious sharks to the mock naval battles, of course.

Taking the centerpiece role here is actor and heartthrob Paul Mescal as Lucius: a well-built bruiser with a mysterious past, who now too must fight for his freedom and seek revenge using nothing but his fists, and a sword, and his Elizabethan-esque oratory when required. Mescal is best when he’s dashing about fighting and killing, and is strained in delivering much of the role’s requirements and emotional range. Mescal gets the job done, but comparisons to Crowe will be inevitable and not in his favor.

Supporting this new leading man are the talented actors Pedro Pascal, Derek Jacobi, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, and Connie Nielsen, among others, who do their best to combine accents and lofty dialogue into a Pangaea. The politics and family feuds are easy to follow and understand, and perhaps because of that, made me miss the sharks.

But the truest hero of Gladiator II is the unexpectedly wicked performance from Denzel Washington as Macrinus, a red right hand with unstoppable ambition who plays Rome’s games with a chessmaster’s mentality. At age 70, actor Washington brings the film to life with his charisma, creating a daring flamboyance to an ancient version of Henry Kissinger. He shows just how important true star power is to a popcorn movie.

While I may quibble at a few plot points and performances, it’s the audiences who will ultimately decide the fate of Gladiator II. As in the Colosseum, the only pollice verso that matters in the multiplex belongs to the people. And they have flocked to the film so far, giving it an emphatic thumbs up.