Genre: Action/
Adventure/ Drama
Runtime: 148
minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Paul Mescal,
Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger,
Derek Jacobi, Matt Lucas
Description: After his
home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who no lead Rome, Lucius (Paul Mescal)
is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to
return the glory of Rome to its people.
Review: Director Ridley Scott returns to one of his greatest triumphs. Along
with Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, two of today’s biggest stars, Scott treats
audiences to an old-fashioned spectacle from ancient times. Although “Gladiator
II” functions just fine as a solid action adventure, it’s more of the same but not
quite as good as its predecessor.
The film opens in Numidia, a
Roman colony in North Africa. Under the leadership of General Acacius, the
Roman Empire invades the last free city and captures much of the male
population into slavery. So does the simple soldier Hanno, who impresses in
local arenas. Impressed by his boundless hatred for the Roman Empire, slave
trader Macrinus buys Hanno and promises him the head od Acacius if he fights
for him in the Colosseum.
Initially, “Gladiator II”
seems to take a different path than its predecessor, but once Hanno begins to
make a name for himself in gladiatorial combat, it becomes increasingly clear
how connected the two films are. Joaquin Phoenix’s Emperor Commodus is now split
into two characters, played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Heckinger. The twin
brothers Geta and Caracalla share the imperial throne together, going
delightfully over the top with thei blood lust. Connie Nielsen reprises her
role as Lucilla, with yet another personal connection to the star of the Colosseum.
Denzel Washington also plays
a seemingly similar character that the first film had. Like Oliver Reed, he is
an ex-gladiator who won his freedom and now trains gladiators. But his Macrinus
has much bigger ambitions than just entertaining the Roman public, and
Washington is drawing more and more attention to himself. Even though being a
side character, his performance steels the show.
Paul mescal is a lot less
impressive than Russel Crowe, but he is still a believable warrior. Biggest difference
is that Crowe could and still can easily carry a film, Mescal as not there yet.
Pedro Pascal was the main reason for my excitement for this film, but that was
quite disappointing. His character doesn’t really have a lot to do and he is
not in the film that much. What he does do, he does well, but his talent if
very underused in the film.
As for the first film, “Gladiator
II” impresses the most with its visuals and its battle scenes. The scenes in
the arena are amazing. There we did see some changes, adding a water filled
arena battle to it. But bigger does not always mean better.
If Maximus would ask me if I
was entertained, I would definitely say yes. For an action and adventure movie
it checks many boxes. But I also have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the
overall execution of it all. “Gladiator” is not a favorite movie of mine, but
it’s a really good film. “Gladiator II” did everything the first film did, but
not as good. And that’s my overall feeling for this film.
Rating: 3,5/ 5
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