When they announced that a second Gladiator movie was in the works, I was equally excited and annoyed. On one hand, a new Gladiator movie! On the other hand, yet another remake/sequel/live-action-version-of-an-animated-movie that is often not needed. Despite my initial reservations, I was quite pleasantly surprised with Gladiator 2. The plot follows a very similar structure to the original Gladiator. A young soldier who is saddled with the death of his wife at the hands of the Romans is captured by them and must fight for his freedom in the Colosseum. However, Gladiator 2 smartly expands the plot. Instead of just focusing on a few characters and a small conflict, as the first one did, Gladiator 2 has an expansive, almost Shakespearean reach. It follows Lucius (Paul Mescal), the son of Maximus, who has been captured and sold to a gladiator master, the machiavellian Macrinus (Denzel Washington). Elsewhere, Lucilla (Connie Nielson) and General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) plot to overthrow the twin Emperors Geta and Caracalla (Joseph Quin and Fred Hechinger).
While the plot was slightly better than the first, I found the acting slightly disappointing, with a few notable exceptions. Paul Mescal felt a little flat. Granted, it is incredibly difficult to have the presence and command of the screen that Russell Crowe had in the original. Mescal’s speeches were nowhere near as memorable or powerful as Crowe’s. Pedro Pascal is an absolutely fantastic actor. However, his simplistic and minimalistic approach to acting often got drowned out by the bombast and opulence of director Ridley Scott’s Rome. Joseph Quin and Fred Hechinger were wonderfully unhinged; however, they lacked any undercut of malice, and never felt dangerous or impactful. Despite the average acting of most of the actors, Denzel Washinton was absolutely electric. His Macrinus was by far the best character of the movie, with Washington drawing on his Shakespearean acting experiences to create a truly incredible performance. Macrinus’ plotting was so entrancing, it made all of the other plot threads dull in comparison. Honestly, the biggest fault of Gladiator 2 is that Lucius was the protagonist, and not Macrinus.
The set pieces and battles were remarkable. Scott is a master at filming battle scenes, using deft camera work to fully capture the panic and chaos that the characters are knee-deep in. The sets are elaborate and beautiful, and so are the costumes. Scott takes full advantage of the improvements in CGI since the filming of Gladiator. Baboons, rhinoceroses, and sharks all make appearances in various action sequences. While most of these are probably not historically accurate (the rhinoceros and baboons might have actually happened, the sharks almost definitely not), they definitely make for striking visuals.
Despite my criticisms, Gladiator 2 is a ridiculously fun watch. Much campier than its predecessor, Gladiator 2 also shed most of the original’s pretentiousness. It does not have much to say about anything, or at least nothing that hasn’t been said a million times before. However, this almost seems to be the point. To answer Crowe’s question from Gladiator: yes, I am entertained.
Gladiator 2 is playing in theaters now.
