Gladiator II (2024) Director: Ridley Scott Starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi
Certificate: 15 Running Time: 148 Minutes
I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking Gladiator is one of the best films ever made. Chances are, if you are reading this, you've seen it and have your own opinion and you probably think it's at least half decent. There has been word of a potential sequel since the original film was still showing on the big screen, and several possible story ideas were floated, but I never thought any of them sounded like they could possibly live up to the first. The idea seemed to get forgotten and it was probably for the best. BUT THEN!! After many years of silence it was not only back on but had been cast and was being filmed, with Ridley Scott in the driving seat once more! It seemed like years of silence, anyway, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention. In any case, it seems one of the first story ideas proposed 20+ years ago would form the premise behind this much-belated sequel. Unlike some, I don't mind these so-called 'legacy sequels' we've been getting in recent years but I was worried it would completely fail to live up to the original. Was I right? Probably not but let's find out.
Lucius prepares to fight for his life...
That story, for anyone who didn't follow all the chatter back in the day, involves Lucius Verus (played by Spencer Treat Clark in the first film, now by Mescal) who was sent away by his mother, Lucillla (the returning Connie Nielsen), following Maximus's death for his protection. Now he's living a peaceful life in Numidia (North Africa) under an assumed name with a wife. Sadly for him, the city in which they live is attacked and easily defeated by the Romans. Many are killed in the battle, including his wife, and those who aren't killed are taken prisoner and sold into slavery. Lucius is among these and is brought before Macrinus (Washington), a former slave who now owns a stable of gladiators. After surviving a bizarre test battle and impressing Macrinus, he finds himself on his way to Rome along with the other gladiators.
General Acacius is tired of war, but he's good at it...
Here they will get to do battle in the Colosseum before the emperors (for yes, there are two at once, as there apparently was for real) and potentially win their freedom again. Lucius has another agenda though, which is to kill General Acacius (Pascal) who led the attack on his home. Complicating matters a little is the fact that Acacius is married to Lucilla. The ambitious Macrinus has his own agenda too, namely power. And what better place to attain power than the biggest and most corrupt city in the world? His biggest problem is the two idiots ruling it - twin emperors Geta and Caracalla (Quinn and Hechinger). My status as a historian is somewhat lacking so I don't know what they were like in real life, but here they're pretty much portrayed as unhinged lunatics which should make displacing them rather interesting.
Macrinus, Acacius and Lucilla discuss stuff...
I suspect much of this sounds more than a little familiar to fans of the first film, and indeed, there are many similarities, both in terms of the plot and characters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing in sequels generally, but here I don't really think it works. The main reason for this is that there's virtually no effort to make you feel invested in Lucius's plight. We've literally only just met him when his world blows up in Roman fury. We spent a good 45+ minutes with Maximus before he was found and enslaved, and by that time we knew quite a bit about him. Since he was a kind and honourable man, we cared about him and we were willing him to get his revenge when he was betrayed. It seems like this sequel expects us to already know and care about Lucius when really, he's just some guy we met a couple of minutes ago.
The Numidian city where Lucius lived...
Something else that vexes me (to quote Emperor Commodus) about this film is its failure to settle on any one primary antagonist. Is it Acacius? He killed Lucius's wife (among many others) but he's just a military leader doing his job well. Is it the loopy emperors? It could be but none of the main characters have any direct connection to them. Is it Macrinus? He befriends Lucius and helps him get close to Acacius so he can achieve his dream of destroying him. But Macrinus has grander plans which might endanger... well, anyone. In the first film, Maximus has one target; one goal - kill Commodus. It gave him purpose, and Commodus's behaviour in his many scenes just served to validate what we knew his inevitable fate would be.
Geta or Caracalla gleefully renders his verdict...
Therein lies another problem. Even if Lucius had been introduced to us properly first, I'm not sure Mescal could possibly have had the same impact as what we now know was peak Crowe. Don't get me wrong, he seems like a decent enough actor, even if I haven't seen him in anything else, but Lucius doesn't have anywhere near the charisma or sheer presence of Maximus. Pedro Pascal looks the part though, even if he is a bit over-used of late, and it's great to see Nielsen back as Lucilla. She honestly barely seems to have aged since the first film. I remain unsure about Denzel in his role, however. I'm a big fan of his generally, but watching him swagger around like a gangsta is a bit jarring here, as is his American accent. Yes, I realise Romans didn't speak with an English accent either, but he is the only one (that I recall). Aside from those points he's as great as he always is.
Yes, Lucius is wearing Maximus's armour...
The film is too, really, as far as all the technical stuff is concerned. Indeed, as you would expect from a Ridley Scott film, the costume and set design is fantastic, the special effects and editing and all that stuff is superb, and the score, while sadly not another Hans Zimmer masterpiece, is still very good. The numerous action/battle sequences are tense, engaging and well shot, whether in a backwater fleapit or the mighty Colosseum itself, and their participants are varied. Aside from the aforementioned psycho-baboons, there's a battle rhino and even, in a not-too-subtle attempt to out-do the Battle of Cathage in the first film, a re-enactment of a naval battle in the watery Colosseum (which they apparently really did used to do) complete with sharks (which they probably didn't do).
Yes, that's the Colosseum. With ships floating in it...
There are many standout scenes of a non-fighty nature too, including the same kind of political intrigue and secret meetings as the first film, and much of the dialogue is excellent. But for all this, I still found the story inconsequential for the most part and I didn't really care what happened to most of the characters. It sounds harsh, I know, even to me as I write it, and it really is a pretty decent film. I suppose it's my fault for liking the first film so much. Perhaps my views are akin to one of those oldschool fanboys who can't tolerate a new entry in his beloved franchise, simply because it's not the thing he has known and loved all these years. It's disappointing to realise, but the fact remains that, as dazzling as Gladiator II might be to look at, it's definitely missing something the first film excelled at.
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