‘What does my past matter, when my future is only to die as a gladiator?‘
Despite being nearly 90, legendary director Ridley Scott is showing no signs of slowing down. He has directed four films since 2021 (The Last Duel, House of Gucci, Napolean and Gladiator II) and apparently has three more lined up in the coming years. Scott has always been prolific, and while he is responsible for some of the greatest films of all time, he’s also directed plenty of rubbish. Unfortunately, Gladiator II is closer to the latter camp than the former…
Sixteen years after the death of Marcus Aurelius, Rome is in a terrible state with twin rulers Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) ruling with an iron fist. Or a pair of iron fists. Whichever you prefer. Meanwhile, Hanno (Paul Mescal), a seemingly ordinary chap living far from Rome, is captured and taken as a slave after his city is defeated and his wife killed in battle. Back in Rome, scheming lunatic Macrinus (Denzel Washington) has designs on taking over the kingdom. With Marcus Aurelius very dead, it is left to his former lover Lucilla (Connie Nielson) to offer the strongest thematic link to the source material. An underused Pedro Pascal also appears.
As is customary, I will begin with the positives. Scott clearly still knows his way around an action set piece and there are moments of genuine wonder here. The opening battle sequence and many of the bone-crunching, one-on-one gladiator battles are a joy to behold. The CGI animals are perhaps a regrettable inclusion but everything else looks great. Denzel steals the show in his best performance for years and Pascal is great in the first hour of the movie. So, what’s the problem?
In my review for Gladiator I noted that there are no modern-day actors who could play Marcus Aurelius like Crowe did. Having watched Paul Mescal for two and a half hours here, I have seen nothing to change my mind. He struggles with the accent. He struggles with his presence. He simply isn’t imposing enough to carry such a bombastic film and he is routinely overshadowed by his co-stars. The other issue is the dialogue. While the original was full of memorable and quotable lines, there is nothing like that here. Which is probably why they have to fall back on dialogue from Gladiator so often. Regrettably, words and phrases aren’t the only thing that are recycled here. Gladiator II is essentially just Gladiator again. It has the same basic plot and story beats without the originality and emotional resonance that made the original so good.
Gladiator II is not bad cinema. Far from it. But it is a sequel that adds very little to the legacy of the first film. Unlike Gladiator, this is a film that is destined to be forgotten.
