In the year 2000, Ridley Scott gave us the beloved historical epic "Gladiator." It pushed Russel Crowe from being a popular actor to an unqualified super star. Twenty-four years later, Scott has graced us with another all-out visual feast starring none other than Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal, and featuring a small-but-strong showing from Denzel Washington.
With over 120 reviews counted on Rotten Tomatoes, "Gladiator II" has earned a "certified fresh" rating of 75 percent. On average, critics gave the movie a rosy 6.8/10 — very close to the original's 7.1/10 rating.
The initial screenings have been very positive
fun fact denzel was told to go inside because the king was here but he told security “i make my own rules” and continued to talk to us pic.twitter.com/HY4KgM9uo0
— laila🌿 (@falconsnat) November 13, 2024
King Charles attending the global premiere of ‘GLADIATOR II’. With Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielson, Densel Washington and director Sir Ridley Scott. #Gladiator2 pic.twitter.com/SDAM4tOT9G
— filmser (@filmser) November 13, 2024
GLADIATOR II is a great sequel that honours the original. Ridley Scott delivers on an epic scale with well-choreographed fights ending in absolute bloodbaths. Mescal commands the screen. DENZEL steals the show. Apart from some pacing issues and a weak script, it’s entertaining. https://t.co/RwysUjfiXx
— manda 🫧 (@amxndareviews) November 8, 2024
The Gladiator II worldwide premier is in London tonight. Strange coincidence the after party is at my hotel. Heads are lined up outside to get a look at the stars. #Gladiator2 pic.twitter.com/y0lhjA02CM
— BPM Smith (@BPMSmith) November 13, 2024
Denzel is a joy
However, there is nothing wrong with a grunting, violent, ancient Roman holiday, especially when it boasts a supporting performance as delicious as Denzel Washington's Machiavellian Macrinus.
[NY Post]
The movie's vitality gets a boost when it steps out from the original's shadow, as it does with gusto whenever Denzel Washington is onscreen. He turns in a lip-smacking performance as Macrinus, a Machiavellian former slave now living in high style off the profits of his stable of gladiators and patiently plotting a secret agenda to acquire greater wealth and power.
The scale and visual splendor are worth the ticket price
The outstanding cast also features Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, the major returnee from the first movie, who hovers over proceedings in quietly imperious style, and Pedro Pascal, as charismatic as ever, playing Marcus Acacius, the Roman general responsible for destroying Lucius' home and family. So while Lucius is grappling with monkeys, sharks and occasionally some actual human fighters, too, he also has a vengeful eye on Marcus. The subsequent plot machinations rely on some pretty convenient coincidences, and Lucius's rise is inevitably formulaic, but it doesn't really matter because the scenes of mind-boggling spectacle are anything but.
[Empire]
Historical accuracy isn't really a strong suit here
Scott, famously dispassionate about historical accuracy, [favors] the vigorous deployment of the past as metaphor. This isn't (in any way, really) [recognizable] as the actual Roman empire; rather its imagery is layered over the collective histories of white supremacist, Christian realms. Scott then repudiates how the supposed glories of the classical world have been [weaponized] over the centuries. Macrinus, here, is the outsider figure able to penetrate the inner circle, only to then perpetuate its cruelties in order to secure power. It's potent, and ever-relevant.
But Scott being Scott, there's no hesitation about letting these ideas sit side by side with the vision of Mescal bare-knuckle boxing a horde of CGI baboons. A naval battle staged in the Colosseum (an actual detail from history, minus the sharks) sees the camera attached to the front of one boat as it rams into the other, while Quinn, Hechinger, and their tiny pet monkey are perfectly pitched, frothing at the mouth and boyishly pathetic, as all good, mad emperors are. "Gladiator II," in short, shows us how to make cinema with a capital "C."
Maybe this is the story we need right now
Yet "Gladiator II" is also a film about hope, about the promise of a new Rome and a more just republic. Victory may be hard-won, steeped in blood and violence, but it is possible. The reluctant heroism of Lucius Verus is a valor for our moment — one forged in anger and vengeance and transmuted into a nobler aim. Watching that transformation is breathtakingly exciting, particularly as he gradually assumes the mantle of Maximus Commodus. Scott is a master at building tension and delivering narrative pay-offs (all aided by a rousing score from Harry Gregson-Williams).
[EW]
"Gladiator II" releases wide in the United States on November 22, 2024. For now, we'll just rewatch the trailer again:
[Image: Paramount]
