With Twisters and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, 2024 seems the year of random afterthought sequels that are a few decades late to the game.
Gladiator was released over 24 years ago and it propelled Russell Crowe to instant stardom. It also helped continue the decade of war epics that dads around the world devoured. Personally, the film helped introduce me to the amazing compositions of Hans Zimmer.
Now with Gladiator II, we have an all-of-a-sudden sequel that carries over a few aspects of the crew and story, and plays off of a well-worn plot structure, and attempts to further the story set up in the first movie.
Lucius (Paul Mescal) has grown up and survived outside of Rome for nearly two decades. He has built his life and even opposes the horde of Roman conquerors. Yet, he quickly becomes a pawn in the celebratory games played in the Colosseum, but also in the politics that divide the Roman Empire.
In a year where Joker 2 managed to desecrate any goodwill that audiences had for the first movie, the biggest question I’ve been asked is, “Does Gladiator 2 ruin the first movie?” In short, no. In fact it wants to replicate the excitement and action the first film delivered. More than anything, it’s slavish loyalty to the original is the weakest point.
The movie rarely takes a minute to catch its breath because there’s so much to get through. It rushes through a facsimile of the events we’ve seen before, only for Lucius, instead of Maximus. It’s fun to see these battles and for the crowds to cheer for the underdog, but it’s all just so familiar. It takes its time, but once it gets past the same story beats, the plot feels fresh. The politics of it all make for a better second and third act than I experiences early on.
Mescal is a good, proven actor. However, he is less of a character and more of a vehicle to get the rest of the story moving. He’s serviceable in the role, but doesn’t have the natural charisma and emotion of Crowe, for example. The standout, to no one’s surprise, is Denzel Washington. Not only is he fun to watch chew through every scene he’s in, but his character has layers that I didn’t expect.
Ridley Scott delivers movies that often leave the audience wanting for a much longer director’s cut. The story is generally there, but it feels like so much is on the cutting room floor. This leaves the side characters/actors with underdeveloped arcs. Connie Nielsen, Pedro Pascal, and Joseph Quinn all seem like they could have had major B-plots, but are sadly glossed over.
The action scenes are what you can expect, but all a joy to watch. The movie really leans into the wild animals vs man angle, but visually they’re all quite unique.
At just under 2 1/2 hours, this movie actually feels like a breeze. The pacing is brisk and every scene has consequence for its story. The only time I felt the movie come to a dead stop was every flashback or fan-service moment dealing with Maximus.
Gladiator II will never be able to stand toe-to-toe with the original. Being so referential is its worst offense, but it thankfully escapes from the familiar story we’ve seen before. Denzel Washington is the star of the show and elevates this movie more than it deserves. This generational sequel stands out in a year of middling cash grabs. It’s not going to an all-timer war epic, it’s honestly not even a necessary movie, but it’s going to have plenty of replay value. B
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