Gladiator II Should Have Been Left on the Arena Floor
IMDB
Following the absolute disaster that was 2023’s Napoleon, Gladiator II's mediocre performance just might be the killing blow for Ridley Scott’s cinematic legacy. It’s been twenty four years since Ridley Scott first delivered us his epic drama Gladiator starring Russell Crowe as a disgraced and betrayed Roman general seeking vengeance against Joaquin Phoenix’s corrupt and childish emperor Commodus. The idea that this five time Oscar winning movie needed a sequel two decades later has left audiences questioning what exactly is going on in the decaying entertainment empire of Hollywood.
The movie begins with Paul Mescal’s Lucius gently caressing his grain harvest and playing with his wife, Arishat, in the drying laundry. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much time to develop a character as the Romans, led by Pedro Pascal’s General Acacius, are at the gates. Battle ensues, Lucius is taken prisoner and sold as a gladiator to Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, a slippery slave master with political intentions who promises Lucius his revenge on Acacius if he fights for him. You can pretty much imagine the rest of the film as it follows a near identical plotline as Gladiator but after the midpoint it quickly devolves into an absolute chaotic mess culminating in an eye roll worthy finale.
In fact the only things this film has in common with Gladiator are fantastic costumes, intricately detailed set design, and some rather impressive battle scenes. Beyond that it feels like a drawn out episode of the Starz series Spartacus except with a $200 million budget and fewer sex scenes. Despite the best efforts of the cast, Gladiator II fails in every attempt at trying to fill in Gladiator’s sandals due to a lack of emotional depth, a fumbling plot line, and, at times, incoherent directing . The movie was such an exhausting watch that by the end of the two and a half hour runtime I felt like I myself had fought an entire gladiator match.
In terms of the performances, there isn’t really much to say. Lines were read. Some louder than others, some with more spit than others. Paul Mescal gives a rather uninspired performance but, to his credit, he was only working with the meager crumbs of character development he was given. Denzel Washington plays Denzel Washington except this time in a turquoise silk robe, conniving his way through the decaying excess of Rome in a performance so over the top he might as well be in a Shakespearean play. Connie Nielsen does her best to infuse the film with some semblance of emotion but it ends up falling flat like a gutted gladiator on the arena floor.
Much like a crazed and senile Roman emperor, Ridley Scott has simultaneously built and destroyed an entire entertainment legacy all in a single lifetime. As a result, he has managed to create his own B-movie remake of one of his greatest dramatic films. I think it is about time that Ridley steps down from his director’s throne and retires before he completely burns through the rest of his filmography.