GLADIATOR II (2024)
Updated: Dec 12
A Sequel Worthy of Rome
Grade: A
If you’re like me, you’ve probably been skeptical of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II since it was first announced. It is, after all, coming out twenty-four years after an Oscar-winning epic which ended on a perfectly solid note. Not to mention the fact that so many sequels nowadays are either a disservice to their predecessors (Joker 2, anyone?) or try mainly to milk our nostalgia for all it’s worth (Alien: Romulus?). But Gladiator II manages to break this curse, becoming a legacy sequel that achieves the ultimate triumph: to be able to stand on its own, despite similarities to the first movie. And it does so with more spectacular action, terrific performances, and some unexpected twists and turns in its plot.
Set sixteen years after the first movie, Gladiator II proves itself a worthy sequel with its opening. Lucius (Paul Mesal), the son of the late emperor Commodus’s sister Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, reprising her role), is living in Numidia, far away from Rome, which has once again fallen into tyranny. Lucius, his wife, Arishat (Yuval Gonen) and an army of Numidians wage an intense battle against a fleet of Roman warships commanded by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who has now married Lucilla. Losing both the battle and his wife, Lucius is taken back to Rome and bought as a gladiator by Macrinus (Denzel Washington). Meanwhile, Lucilla is conspiring with the Senate to overthrow the corrupt twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and realize the dream of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Maximus Decimus Meridius of returning Rome to the people.
For a while, it seems as though Gladiator II is following the same beats as its predecessor. Like Russel Crowe’s Maximus before him, Lucius fights a battle, loses his wife and freedom, and becomes a gladiator while seeking revenge against the Roman who wronged him. It also commits the all-too-common trope of revealing that the main character is related to another important person-in this case, Lucius is the secret son of Maximus. This somewhat tarnishes Maximus’s image, since his entire goal in the first Gladiator was to avenge his beloved wife and son, and the state of Rome in II kind of dilutes his final sacrifice. Nevertheless, Lucius keeps his father’s legacy intact by trying to finish what he started.
Unlike with Gladiator, the villains of the sequel are not entirely obvious at the beginning. Pedro Pascal’s Acacius fights for the emperors, but only to protect his wife; he actually hates them and comes to care about Lucius. The emperors in question are more entertainingly hammy than Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus and are eventually turned into puppets. Ultimately, it is Washington who steals the show, as Macrinus seems to be a stand-in for the first movie’s character Proximo but is ultimately revealed to have his own malevolent designs for Rome.
Ironically, the weakest performance is arguably that of Mescal, though it can hardly be called weak in and of itself. Mescal’s effort is no less than those around him, but he doesn't have the same star power as Crowe, nor can he even match his costars. If the first Gladiator belonged to Crowe, then Gladiator II is more of an ensemble piece. Still, Mescal gives it his all and is makes Lucius a sympathetic character, going from defiantly vengeful to heroic over the course of the film. He also has great chemistry with Nielsen; after initially resenting his mother for sending him away long ago (for his own safety), he reconciles and becomes devoted to her.
Characters aside, the main attraction is, of course, the spectacle, which Scott manages to retain from the first movie. Rome looks as beautiful as ever, and the action is extremely bloody and well staged, from the opening battle to the final duel. In addition to other gladiators and soldiers, the Colosseum and other arenas are filled with ravenous baboons, sharks, ships, and a charging rhino, all of which bring a level of over-the-top intensity not seen in the first movie. There are also emotional stakes, including one battle which pits Lucius against Acacius, who doesn’t even want to fight him. It is after this scene, in fact, that the story begins to deviate from its apparent course, and we are unsure who is going to die, or how. Scott has always had an affinity for on-screen combat, and the fights in this movie are among the best he has ever directed.
This reviewer has not had many theatergoing experiences this year that were truly impressive, but Gladiator II has been added to that short list. Ridley Scott made a number of disappointing features in recent years, such as House of Gucci (2021) and last year’s Napoleon. But, just like Steven Spielberg with The Fabelmans (2022), Scott proves that he hasn’t lost his touch. Does Gladiator II exceed the first movie? Not quite, but it does something just as important: to successfully entertain in its own way. And apparently, Scott is already in the planning stages for a third Gladiator movie. Will it be as good as the first two? Hard to say, since the bar is already set so high.
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenplay: David Scarpa (Based on characters created by Dave Franzoni)
Producers: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, David Franzoni
Cast: Paul Mescal (Lucius), Pedro Pascal (Acasius), Connie Nielsen (Lucilla), Denzel Washington (Macrinus), Joseph Quinn (Emperor Geta), Fred Hechinger (Emperor Caracalla), Lior Raz (Viggo), Derek Jacobi (Senator Gracchus), Meter Mensah (Jugurtha), Alexander Karim (Ravi), Yuval Gonen (Arishat)
Rated: R (for intense violence and gore)
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