Disclaimer: Rated R for Violence Strong Bloody Violence
Disclaimer: Spoilers for the 2001 Gladiator
May of 2000 – Ridley Scott’s epic Gladiator was released in theaters. The starring cast included Russell Crowe as the gladiator Maximus and young Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus. Gladiator ended 2000 with a global box office total of $465.5 million. In addition, the film received multiple wins during the 2001 Oscars including Best Picture.
24 years later Scott brings the Roman story back to the screen with the release of Gladiator 2. This time starring Paul Mescal as the gladiator Lucius (Commodus’ sister’s son), and Denzel Washington as Macrinus.
Before the film was released, critics and original fans alike were skeptical on whether any sequel could be worthy of the 2000 movie. While Gladiator II is not an unwatchable film, it by no means compares to the first one, and felt like somewhat of a mess.
The largest disaster of Gladiator II is seen in the CGI; the overdone CGI is noticeable even in the trailer. Some scenes made the movie seem as if it was a video game, this is a distracting factor for viewers. In one notable scene, Lucius fights an animal in the arena, but the CGI is so messy it is difficult to clue what animal he’s exactly fighting.
Throughout the film, it felt as though Scott was writing a work of fanfiction, even though Gladiator is his own creation. For example, anyone who watched the first film is aware of the fact that Lucius was the son of Lucilla (Commodus’ sister), but no details were given revealing the identity of his father. However, in the sequel, Lucilla reveals that Maximus was Lucious’ father.
While the first Gladiator made Lucilla and Maximus’ mutual feelings towards one another obvious, such a detail about parentage does not work. In the 2000 film, a major characterization of Maximus was his intense loyalty and honor. Such a trait makes the idea of Maximus betraying his wife and son seem highly unlikely. In addition, some may recall that Maximus and Lucilla had discussed their sons being similar in age, however Maximus never found any suspicion towards this connection. These points overall make the concept of Maximus as Lucius’ father feel fan-created.
While the above points impacted my view on the quality of the film, I saw some strengthening in the overall various acting performances.
Paul Mescal has the lead role, and this is his first performance in a high-action blockbuster type of film. In the past, he has been known for starring in more indie movies. Mescal was somewhat popular before this film. After its release, no matter what people thought of the film’s quality, there is no denying that Gladiator has officially marked him as a movie star.
This time the emperors were brothers Emperor Geta and Caracalla, played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger. Their performance felt very different from Phoenix’s Commodus. Phoenix played a very psychotic character – in fact, it might as well have served as his audition piece for Joker. On the other hand, it almost felt as if Quinn and Hechinger were trying to mimic Phoenix’s character. I mean if it was any other movie I would’ve liked their performance, but not for Gladiator.
The stand-out performance by no surprise the legendary Denzel Washington as Macrinus. At the point in the storyline where the film becomes messy, Washington holds the movie together. Also, this is a type of role audiences haven’t really seen from Washington. Such a performance most similarly resembles the roles he’s played on the stage. As Macrinus, Washington brought a Shakespeare energy to a Greek character.
Overall, executing a sequel for a nearly perfect original film is a difficult task. In the end, Gladiator II was nowhere close to the same level as Godfather: Part 2, or the fellow legacy sequel of Top Gun: Maverick. At the end of the day, the question is: does every movie need a sequel?
