Gladiator II (2024)

By: Mike Ward on Thursday, November 21

R Running Time: 148 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Gladiator II excels in delivering intense and exciting action scenes. Ridley Scott, in this regard, still has incredible gifts as a filmmaker.
There is something kind of great in seeing a hard-working, character actor like Paul Mescal finally get the chance to lead a blockbuster film.
Denzel Washington is having the time of his life here. He is almost worth the price of admission alone.

NO

Unlike Gladiator, this film struggles to find a consistent tone. Sword-and-sandal epic? Melancholy drama? Campy, over-the-top decadance with villainous characters? Gladiator II is all of these things and the shifts are abrupt.
This movie does not need to be anything close to 148 minutes. When it slows down, it grinds to a halt.
The screenplay, at times, plays like Gladiator karaoke, putting Mescal’s character through similar situations that Russell Crowe’s character went through in the original film.

OUR REVIEW

24 years after Russell Crowe’s Oscar-winning turn as Maximus and Ridley Scott’s Gladiator earned five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the director returns to ancient Rome with Gladiator II. Led by up-and-coming star Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Scott attempts to return to the epic storytelling and intensity that made the original a modern classic. Though the film offers moments of excitement and spectacle, those expecting a return to the thrills of the first film may find themselves underwhelmed and disappointed.

While not quite a karaoke version of the original film, Scott’s film attempts to show, as the old saying goes, that absolute power corrupts absolutely. A song sung quite loudly in the original film. Here, some 16 years after the death of Maximus, a descendant of his, Lucius (Mescal), finds himself enslaved and widowed after twin tyrants, Geta and Caracella (Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger), order an attack on his city.

Lucius begins to understand the stakes at play after we have already witnessed an epic battle that takes place at sea and on shore. But it is the screenplay by David Scarpa (who wrote Scott’s messy Napoleon) that seeks to create something memorable, but recycles a few too many elements. Mescal is not Crowe, either in characterization or appearance, but he is cast as a similar type of hero. The problem is, where Crowe could radiate anger and a bravado that matched his brawn on the battlefield or in the Colosseum, Mescal is too modern in look and appearance. Crowe, we could envision in ancient Rome. Mescal, without question a great actor, never sheds the skin of “modern-day-actor-playing-in-a-costume-film.” So, we have to accept something less than what we are anticipating. A common theme throughout Gladiator II.

Scarpa and Scott’s collaboration does touch on the thoughts of what it means to lose an empire and fall under tyrannical rule. While you seldom can plan for such things, there will be people who see Gladiator II and apply it to the modern state of politics in America, on the heels of a contentious and controversial 2024 presidential election. For people who detest political themes and commentary in movies, brace yourself. Gladiator II is not going to be the only movie to draw such comparisons and parallels.

(See also: Wicked: Part I).

The battle/action sequences are undeniably the highlight of the film. Epic, bloody, and vast in scope and execution, Scott, at 86 years old, still has a masterful way of delivering wide-scale action. The detail in the design work on the ships in the opening battle is terrific, as are the sweeping set pieces, lensed by cinematographer James Mathieson and edited with specific urgency by Sam Restivo and Claire Simpson.

The film falters mostly with the script. And while Denzel Washington, as Macrinus - a gladiator handler of sorts and arms dealer who may not be quite forthcoming with his actions - delivers a wild, unhinged performance, even his manic energy cannot fully elevate the film’s morose, dense tone. It’s not that we aren’t rooting for Mescal’s Lucius to survive and overcome the obstacles before him, but we are simply not engaged in this journey like we were with Russell Crowe. We just aren’t.

Perhaps the comparison is a bit unfair because Mescal, with his physicality and appearance, is quite the compelling performer. Scarpa’s recycling approach never really lets Mescal differentiate himself. When both avenge a slain wife, we remember Crowe. When battles occur in the Colosseum for Washington’s delight, we remember Joaquin Phoenix’s petulant character giving thumbs up or down. For those who have not watched Gladiator, this film may still make an impression. However, as a standalone movie, Gladiator II is not consistently entertaining enough to be that special movie that stands up to repeated viewings and years of reverence.

Famously, in the original film, Crowe shouted to Emperor Commodus after winning a brutal fight to the death: “Are you not entertained?!” That line became a signature pop culture moment that Gladiator II wants but never finds.

Sadly, it seems that if he’s not directing elaborate action sequences, Ridley Scott seems to have lost the ability to capture the dramatic beats necessary to power a film’s emotional core. This is a Gladiator that deserved better.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, Matt Lucas, Alexander Karim, Tim McInnerny, Yuval Gonen, Rory McCann

Director: Ridley Scott
Written by: Derek Scarpa (screenplay); Derek Scarpa, Peter Craig (story)
Based on characters created for the film “Gladiator” by David Franzoni
Release Date: November 22, 2024
Paramount Pictures

Gladiator II excels in delivering intense and exciting action scenes. Ridley Scott, in this regard, still has incredible gifts as a filmmaker.

There is something kind of great in seeing a hard-working, character actor like Paul Mescal finally get the chance to lead a blockbuster film.

Denzel Washington is having the time of his life here. He is almost worth the price of admission alone.

Unlike Gladiator, this film struggles to find a consistent tone. Sword-and-sandal epic? Melancholy drama? Campy, over-the-top decadance with villainous characters? Gladiator II is all of these things and the shifts are abrupt.

This movie does not need to be anything close to 148 minutes. When it slows down, it grinds to a halt.

The screenplay, at times, plays like Gladiator karaoke, putting Mescal’s character through similar situations that Russell Crowe’s character went through in the original film.