Prepare to be entertained.
Gladiator II is a 2024 epic historical action film directed by Ridley Scott, written by David Scarpa, produced by Scott Free Productions, Red Wagon Entertainment, and Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It stars Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington. This is the second film in the Gladiator franchise. It was preceded by Gladiator.
"Violence is the universal language." - Macrinus
Plot
After his home is invaded by the Roman Army, a mysterious soldier named Hanno is taken prisoner and tossed into the gladiator pits. As the city threatens to collapse under the cruelty of twin emperors Geta and Caracalla, Hanno attempts to find revenge against General Acacius, all while his true lineage and legacy are revealed.
The Sweet
I had mixed feelings about Gladiator II going in.
Like most people, I absolutely adore the original Gladiator. It is one of the most badass, adrenaline-pumping movies I have ever seen with an enormous scope and a great revenge story at the core. But that movie does not easily lend itself to a sequel, especially one that comes twenty-four years later. The trailers did not win me over, so I was definitely skeptical about the film.
And I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie.
Part of what I didn't realize before entering the theater was that I just love being in the world of Gladiator. Very few directors are able to recapture the past like Ridley Scott, because he is just so good at building ancient Rome for the silver screen. Ancient Rome is one of the coolest (and most brutal) historical empires, and both Gladiator movies portray it fabulously. You feel the awe of this epic, gigantic city while also feeling the barbaric nature of the ancient times. It creates such an interesting mix of emotions that just sucks you into this world.
Ridley Scott does deserve a ton of credit for this film. As I already said, he's really good at creating period pieces, but he's also incredibly talented when it comes to making truly gigantic movies. A ton of his movies have these huge, sweeping scales that just feel so incredibly epic. Gladiator did, and Gladiator II is able to recapture that. The cast, the set pieces, the action, the shots...all of it is just big. There are very few directors that can truly pull off epics like this. And Ridley Scott did it again.
I also think this movie does just enough to differ itself from the original film. The initial setup feels the same, but we immediately shift in a different direction when we start to understand Pedro Pascal's character more. I actually thought that his character was really the strongest aspect of the story and created a bit more of a moral dilemma that made me think. The film doesn't deal with straight-up revenge; it's more complicated than that this time. As we move into the back half, the movie really starts to go in a different direction than the original, which I really appreciated (even if I didn't love everything that it did).
I don't think all of the performances worked, but the ones that did really worked for me. Obviously Denzel is fantastic. Everyone has labeled him as the standout, and he definitely, definitely is. I would not be surprised at all if he gets an Oscar for this film. But I also really liked Paul Mescal. People seem to be disappointed by his performance because he isn't Russell Crowe, but that's a ridiculous comparison. Russell Crowe gave one of the most iconic and best performances ever. Nobody can live up to that. I thought Mescal did a really good job of blending a bit of Maximus into his character while also doing his own thing. Of course he isn't as good as Russell Crowe. But all that matters is that he is good, and I thought he was.
The action is also just fantastic here. Cinematic gladiator battles are fun to watch. There's just no way around that. Every time Mescal enters the Colosseum, it is just awesome. Scott shoots the action with the same epic feeling that he shoots the rest of the movie with, and it just gives it this gigantic, awesome feel to it. This current era of movies really feels like it can often lean on a lot of big CGI action, and Gladiator II brings back true hand-to-hand, sword-to-sword choreographed fight scenes that are visceral, brutal, and frickin' awesome.
I also felt like this movie had the same style of dialogue that Gladiator had, and that was really cool. I think Gladiator is one of the great screenplays of all time, and part of that is due to the truly awesome, intense dialogue. There are so many quotes from that film that are just so cool. Gladiator II does not have the iconic lines that Gladiator had, but the dialogue still has that same intensity and coolness that the original had.
The Sour
I think the biggest thing working against this movie is that it's a Gladiator film. I actually think it does a good job of tying back to the original, but I felt like the connections were unnecessary. It could've been Gladiator II and cut all ties to Maximus or Lucilla or Commodus and just done it's own thing and I actually think it would've benefitted. It's an interesting story that works with the Gladiator connections, but doesn't really need them.
This movie can also get pretty cartoonish. Gladiator felt like a real story that could've happened in ancient Rome. The most over-the-top thing was Maximus fighting a tiger...but in real life, the Romans did pit gladiators against tigers in the arena. Gladiator II has some more unrealistic things in it. The first gladiator fight is against a bunch of CGI demon monkeys. I say demon monkeys because Paul Mescal fights monkeys that are so aggressive and violent and scary-looking that I do not think they are any species of real monkey. Later in the film, they fill the Colosseum with sharks. It's things like this that can really pull you out of the movie or an action sequence, and I wish they would've had a bit more restraint.
Speaking of cartoonish, I thought that the emperors were ridiculous. I like Joseph Quinn a lot; he was obviously a standout in Stranger Things and I think he was good in the newest Quiet Place movie. Here, I think his performance is a bit too much. It felt like they wanted to make these emperors the most cartoony, psychopathic rulers possible, and they just went too far. I think Quinn does the best with what he is given, but I think Fred Hechinger (who plays his twin brother) was just bad. I've seen Hechinger in a few other things, and I just do not find him to be a good actor. And that carried through into Gladiator II. He is just too cartoony and unbelievable.
I also think that, while I appreciate that the film goes in a different direction, it loses steam after the major gladiator fight in the middle. If you've seen the film, you know what I'm talking about. I think it goes from a Gladiator movie to a big, epic war film very quickly, and I found that shift to be jarring. I still enjoyed it, but it just felt a bit unnatural. I think they could've set up where it was going a bit earlier and had certain character turns and plot twists feel a bit more earned.
Finally, I think the marketing for this movie was atrocious. The film treats the identity of Paul Mescal's character as a plot twist, so I am not spoiling it here. The trailers do spoil that. You know who Paul Mescal is and some other connections involving his character that are part of the multiple reveals we get throughout the film. I think this is ridiculous on multiple levels: first of all, there is no reason for his character to have the connections to the original film that he does. It does not really serve a purpose. And secondly, I have no idea why the trailer would spoil both who he is and his connections. It's just so baffling to me that they would put that in the trailer. Nobody is going to go see this movie because you spoiled who he was in the trailer. It's just terrible that they put that in the trailer. Marketing has to be more restrained than that.
Final Thoughts and Score
Gladiator II is a fun, exciting return to ancient Rome that has eye-popping action and a different enough plot that it works.
I am going Savory here. Age range is 14+.
SWEET N' SOUR SCALE
Sweet (Great) Savory (Good)
Sour (Bad) Moldy (Terrible)
"Gladiator II"
Fun Factor: 8.5/10
Acting: 8/10
Story: 7.5/10
Characters: 8/10
Quality: 8/10
Directed by Ridley Scott
Rated R for strong bloody violence, frightening themes and images, language, suggestive material, thematic elements
Released on November 22, 2024
2 hours and 28 minutes
Paul Mescal as Hanno
Denzel Washington as Macrinus
Pedro Pascal as General Acacius
Connie Nielsen as Lucilla
Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta
Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla
Lior Raz as Viggo
Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus
Peter Mensah as Jugurtha
Alexander Karim as Ravi
Tim McInnerny as Senator Thraex
Yuval Gonen as Arishat
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