Head of Reviews Robert Flynn delves into Gladiator II and why Ridley Scott's return to Rome will not leave you entertained.
From the very beginning of Gladiator II (2024), an all too common Hollywood sin is committed in terms of sequels: making the original pointless. After a sequence of mesmerising impressionist paintings, which reminds us of the main plot of Gladiator (2000), the film announces how the Roman Empire has progressed since the events of Ridley Scott’s roaring predecessor. 16 years have passed since the heroic death of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), Rome has completely forgotten and discarded any memory of the once cherished and lauded gladiator. Within seconds, the events of Gladiator and the powerful message of “Giving Rome back to its people” is ostensibly rendered as futile and pointless.
We are brought back to the Roman Empire, brimming with CGI spectacle, glossy costumes and sets, and are introduced to the stoic son of Maximus, Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal) as he defends his small home colony from the violent advances of the Roman army led by the towering General Acacius (Pedro Pascal). After being defeated and losing his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen), Lucius is brought back to Rome in chains as a prisoner of war, reduced to the life as a gladiator after being bought by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a charming but power hungry owner of gladiators and arms dealer, which he flippantly tosses into arenas to profit off their gory demises. With no home to return to, Lucius is fuelled by one goal; getting revenge through murdering General Acacius.
Acacius has the unyielding support of his mother Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) in his plans to overthrow the sitting Roman Emperors; the erratic and blood hungry brothers Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). Macrinus shares a similar idea of seizing the throne of the Roman Empire. All of these characters slip in and out of the story and eventually diverge in different directions. Though this all may sound thrilling, Ridley Scott’s sequel to his epic classic lacks any of the bite and grit of the original. Lengthy and expository dialogue exchanges populate and bloat the runtime, with no demanding or interesting character dynamics at play to keep the audiences hooked.
Even when Gladiator II does decide to display a sense of immediacy, it comes across as perfunctory and short-lived. Battleships, sharks, flaming arrows and even rhinoceroses are let loose in Rome’s expansive Colosseum but no memorable scene is ever strung together. Any set piece in the Colosseum feels forced; no plot point or piece of character development is conveyed in these scenes. It even feels like Ridley Scott, once a master of historic epics, has no interest in capturing something which will captivate the audience. He succeeds almost purely in tightly shot and well choreographed scenes of one on one combat, a strong aspect of Scott’s filmmaking expertise which Gladiator II could have used more of.
Paul Mescal also thrives in the film's more physically demanding scenes but lacks the ability to offer a fully rounded character due to a lacklustre script. Having built his career off of a number of very human and detailed performances, you can feel Mescal wanting to break free from the shackles of indie filmmaking. He’s assertive and steps into arenas as if he were born to perform but he lacks the interiority which Crowe offered 24 years ago. At the beginning of the millennium, Crowe was at his peak in his ability to balance his laconic masculinity with his delicate sensitivity in Gladiator, The Insider (1999) and Master and Commander (2003). He made it impossible to not be spellbound by his undeniable star power. Mescal has proven to be one of the most promising actors of his generation but as Lucius Verus he’s all brawn and no heart.
The reason why it feels so insulting for Gladiator II to immediately discredit the events of its predecessor is because it pales so strongly in comparison to Gladiator. While the original had plenty of strong, dimensional performances with a very simple yet compelling plot, its sequel tries to rehash the same structure but to no avail while Denzel Washington acts circles around each of his castmates on screen. Gladiator II will presumably provide enough blood and guts to entertain most audiences. But if Gladiator II were to have been utterly disastrous then at least it would have been interesting.