Movie Review: Gladiator II
Gladiator II is an epic sequel to the 2000 Best Picture winner that features stunning direction, thrilling action, and one of the best performances of the year only for it to be bogged down by an underwhelming screenplay.
Sixteen years after the death of Marcus Aurelius, Rome is a city of corruption. It is now run by two psychotic emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and the city seems to be on the brink of chaos. Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), Aurelius’s grandson, lives under the alias Hanno with his wife Arishat in the North African kingdom of Numidia. When his village is attacked, he is taken back to Rome and forced to fight in gladiatorial battles in the Colosseum. Backed by the sly and charismatic Macrinus (Denzel Washington), who promises Lucius revenge on the man that led the attack on his village (Pedro Pescal), Lucius quickly rises in popularity amongst the Romans while Macrinus puts into motion his plan to rule Rome.
Ridley Scott’s direction in Gladiator II is like watching a master chef create their signature dish. He’s worked with this several times before and can showcase his mastery with ease. The action is fierce and bloody, the stars at the center of the film shine, and everything looks superb. The opening battle scene is crafted beautifully. The Colosseum fights are even more brutal than the first film, though some run shorter than I wanted. There is a scene where the Colosseum is flooded and the gladiators duel with boats and it is a truly spectacular sequence and one of my favorite scenes in any movie in 2024. Gladiator II is further proof that Scott is the modern master of sword and sandal movies.
Paul Mescal is our new warrior and while he brings the physicality needed for the role, his character doesn’t have much emotional depth, which makes him relatively flat as a lead. Quinn and Hechinger are pretty fun as the psychotic new emperors, but Gladiator II belongs to Denzel Washington, who gives a sensational and awards-caliber performance. Perfectly blending charisma and gravitas, Washington overshadows anyone next to him on screen. It’s a performance that perfectly encapsulates why Washington is one of our greatest actors of all time. You can’t take your eye off him when he is on screen.
Gladiator II’s script is what holds the film back from greatness. Written by David Scarpa and Peter Craig, the script is both messy and uninspiring. There are far too many characters and subplots that a lot get underdeveloped, most notably Pescal’s character, who seems like he would be important to the story but isn’t developed in the slightest. The subplots get redundant and at times confusing and ultimately take away from what works in the film. This is also sequel writing 101. There are more characters, there’s more fighting, there are “twists”, and it all ties back to the first film. There is nothing original about Gladiator II, which makes it even more impressive that Scott was able to make such an exciting movie and Washington was able to give such an impressive, towering performance.
Follow Kevflix on Twitter, Instagram, and Letterboxd, @kevflix, and Facebook by searching Kevflix.
