24 years ago, Gladiator was a massive commercial success, won five Oscars (including Best Picture) and made Russell Crowe a star. However, it isn’t really the classic that sentence makes it sound like. It is a very entertaining, historically inaccurate, Roman epic, action movie. It is well-made, because that is the exact kind of movie Ridley Scott knows how to do, and has good performances, but the awards have given it a legacy it doesn’t live up to. While it is good, I am not sure people were truly clamoring for a sequel, especially after all these years.
The story was generally self-contained and ended conclusively, yet here, finally, comes Gladiator II. A violent, bloody spectacle, it never makes itself feel necessary as a sequel. The connections are there in the screenplay, though they are definitely forced. Still, Ridley Scott knows how to film compelling action. It is not as good as the original, in part because of how similar the two productions are. This is somewhere awkwardly between a continuation and a remake. That said, it is enjoyable enough in its own right, with solid performances and satisfying brutality. It delivers basically what it needed to.
Maximus, the hero of Gladiator, died in the arena, but his deeds live on. His son, Lucius, the would-be-Prince of Rome, escaped into anonymity immediately following his father’s death and now, many years later, fights against the viciousness of the new Roman Emperors. When he is captured by the Romans and purchased as a gladiator by a devious schemer, Lucius is confronted by his past on the way to revenge.
Political intrigue, close-quarters combat and family drama are at the heart of Gladiator II (139 minutes, without the end credits). The latter is by far the weakest element. There are obvious links to the events of the original, but they are half-baked and lack all emotional stakes. I didn’t care about Lucius possibly reuniting with his mother because the movie never got me to believe that he cared. That does not motivate him. It seems like he knows where he comes from and has no feelings toward it (until the plot requires him to, which is not done smoothly).
What does work are the battles in the colosseum. The camera tends to be in close, emphasizing the intimacy of the carnage unfolding onscreen. The fights are intense, bloody, simply choreographed and usually over quickly, perfect for this type of combat. The focus is on staying alive, not looking cool. Scott does enough so the audience can understand why what is happening matters. That at least gives an importance to the action that is absent in a lot of the dialogue. There is nothing masterful here. It is merely capable traditional genre filmmaking.
The melodrama of the plot is boosted by the performances, specifically Paul Mescal as Lucius and Denzel Washington as his owner, Macrinus. Mescal is stoic, measured and oddly friendly, hiding a rage that comes out when he fights. It is a strangely understated turn, but a bigger one would have been a distraction. He is very good in the battle scenes, making up for the passion missing elsewhere.
Washington is also strong in a much showier role that plays off of his familiar onscreen persona. He brings his casual charm he wields to misdirect from his intelligence. Here, his smile and laugh disarms people who aren’t aware they are his adversary until it is too late. Macrinus is far from an original character. Washington is talented enough to make him his own.
Gladiator II works to the extent it does because Ridley Scott and his team know their way around a violent Roman epic and the cast is game for the bloodshed and over-the-top ridiculousness. It is the lesser Gladiator, and it seems highly unlikely that it finds any awards success, but it is an enjoyable diversion nonetheless that will probably do well at the box-office.
3¼ out of 5
Cast:
Paul Mescal as Lucius
Denzel Washington as Macrinus
Connie Nielsen as Lucilla
Pedro Pascal as Marcus Acadius
Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta
Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla
Directed by Ridley Scott
Screenplay by David Scarpa
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