Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen
Release Date: November 22nd
Platform: Theaters
Rating: 2/5
“Good fights and costumes don’t make up for the lacking script.”
By Stephen Lackey
Gladiator is one of the many hallmarks of director Ridley Scott’s long career. It stands
beside films like Blade Runner and Alien as being more than just a “good movie”. These
films are cultural moments in cinema and represent the medium’s evolution in the eras
in which they were released. Scott has tried recapturing these glory days with sequels he
either produced or directed, and has honestly only had one universally agreed upon
success in Blade Runner 2049, a film he only produced. Most recently, Scott directed
the sadly underseen and fantastic The Last Duel and the all-around failure Napoleon.
To say you never really know what you’re going to get with Ridley Scott is probably an
understatement. He’s a risky box of chocolates.
GLADIATOR II feels like it only exists because the director wanted to recapture the
success of the first film and no other reason. A return to such an iconic story should
truly only happen if an incredible story idea drives that return. In this case, the only
thing driving the sequel is nostalgia and spectacle. GLADIATOR II is yet another revenge story, which
would be fine if we received the character development and narrative architecture to make us
care. In the first film the inciting incidents occur late in the film, after substantial
character development and world-building. When those pivotal moments happen, the
audience is fully invested and ready for the cathartic release of vengeance.
GLADIATOR II introduces the audience to the characters that matter in the first ten
minutes of the film and then foists the pivotal moment upon them with the thinnest
motivation and context. The result is the viewers just don’t care about the character
journey that follows.
GLADIATOR II rushes to action without the political intrigue or the emotional weight
of the first film. Rather than build depth of story, this film attempts to utilize nostalgia as
a shortcut. When the audience needs those moments to care they are just reminded of
Maximus and his plight over and over again. So, the film rushes to the action. Is it
good? Well, kind of. Some of the fights are well shot, but they are often surrounded with
very poor CGI that is incredibly distracting. In a few instances, the CGI isn’t just bad, it’s
moronic. Sure, filling the Colosseum with water is historically accurate, but the sharks
are not. Generally speaking, the CGI is subpar throughout the entire film. Seeing fights
with some choreography rather than just hiding the lack of it behind edits and shaky
cam (ahem, MCU) was fun here and there.
The acting was generally good across the board, with the only limitation being the script.
Denzel was interesting though. His performance is over the top, and he’s clearly having
a great time but he did nothing with his accent, which feels painfully out of place. A
movie like GLADIATOR II lives and breathes on its monologues. They assemble the
troops and fire up the audience. The monologues in this film get the audience ready for
bedtime. Lastly, the final fight is shockingly unbelievable and underwhelming. Without spoiling anything, the fight was one-sided from the moment it started, so it brought no drama or suspense to the proceedings. The fact that the fight even happens is inconsistent with what we’ve seen from one of the characters. There are those that fight, and those that manipulate others to fight for them.
GLADIATOR II offers some fun moments of spectacle sandwiched between its mediocrity, but that’s not enough to make it memorable after leaving the cinema. Just rewatch the original film and pretend this sequel never happened.
