Ridley Scott has made some outstanding films in his time, but lately he hasn’t quite hit the mark. Napoleon was disappointingly unremarkable, House of Gucci and The Last Duel were just okay, and Prometheus and Alien: Covenant were lackluster at best. In fact, he hasn’t had a bona fide hit since The Martian all the way back in 2015. So when a sequel to Scott’s 2000 megahit, Gladiator, was announced, people were expectedly concerned that it would just be more of the same. Thankfully, Gladiator II offers a glimpse of the Ridley Scott of old, but just a glimpse.
Gladiator II picks up nearly 20 years after the events of the first film. Paul Mescal’s character is a bit of a spoiler, so we’ll just leave his name out of this for now. Mescal is the new “gladiator” as he finds himself a prisoner of war, owned by Macrinus (Denzel Washington). He must fight in the Colosseum, offering very similar beats to the first Gladiator. A few characters from the original film return, but for the most part this is an entirely new cast.
To compare Gladiator II to the original would be a disservice. The first film is one of the best movies of the last century. There was no way Ridley Scott was going to top that with a sequel. While there are a lot of connections between the original film and the sequel, Gladiator II feels more like a retelling (“requel” if you will, a sequel/remake) than a standalone film. If you haven’t seen the original movie, you will not understand the deeper relationships between the characters, but it’s still quite watchable.
Mescal goes on a nearly identical journey to Maximus (Russell Crowe), but Scott never gives the audience time to care about Mescal’s character or his motivations. Unlike the original where the audience is given the time to feel for Maximus, why he’s fighting, and what his victory means, Mescal’s character doesn’t have the same deep backstory.
While Mescal does an admirable job making his character unique compared to Maximus, he’s assisted by expectedly solid performances from Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger. All of these famous actors disappear into their characters, aside from the signature swagger that Washington can’t seem to shake. It does add to his character, but it’s still very distinctly a Denzel Washington mannerism.
As a standalone gladiatorial film, Gladiator II would be more than passable. It wouldn’t go on to become a classic by any means, but it would be a respectable watch. However, this is a sequel that doesn’t shy away from making repeated nods back to the original, and has difficulty standing on its own two feet.
It doesn’t help that the character development is not gradual at all. The film moves along at a steady pace for the first two acts, but as soon as the third act begins, almost every character suddenly has a change of heart, or new motivations, with no build up to these changes. It turns interesting characters into clichés, and causes the ending of the film to be more than a little messy. In addition, the visual effects are mostly decent, but at times they look a bit too CG. This is especially true with some of the more elaborate Colosseum battles.
Ridley Scott had all the necessary pieces to make Gladiator II an epic adventure like the first. However, the way he uses some of these pieces, especially toward the end of the film, it just makes Gladiator II an average gladiatorial effort. If you’re a fan of the first film, you should still experience the sequel in theaters, but don’t expect anything close to the Russel Crowe masterpiece.
About Gladiator II
Synopsis: After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: David Scarpa, Peter Craig, David Franzoni
Stars: Pedro Pascal, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 Hours, 28 Minutes
Bryan Dawson has been writing professionally since the age of 13. He started his career as a video game writer and has since worked for Random House, Prima Games, DirecTV, IGN, AOL, the British Government, and various other organizations. For GNN, Bryan taps into his passion for movies.
