Gladiator II

This weekend, Gladiator II, the long-awaited sequel to the original Ridley Scott film, released in theaters. Gladiator II takes place 16 years after the events of the original film and follows Lucius as he is forced to enter the Colosseum as a gladiator. To put in some perspective, I watched the original Gladiator for the first time about a week ago so I didn't have the same level of hype that other big fans had but I was still looking forward to this film.

Overall, while this film falls short of the original movie, on its own merits, I thought it was still an excellent movie. Just like the first film, this movie does a great job of delivering on the action and spectacle. If that is the only reason, you want to see this movie, you will not be disappointed. Several action sequences are even more high-scale than the previous film just due to the advances in technology over the past 20 years. I also like how the movie ties into the original film. You don't need to have seen Gladiator for the story to make sense but several elements make clear connections. I thought Paul Mescal's performance was very well done. He manages to pay homage to Russel Crowe while also doing his own thing and making his character, Lucius unique. Especially in how they handle different levels of conflict and adversity, you can tell that Lucius is a bit different than Maximums. The standout performance in this movie was Denzel Washington as Macrinus. If anyone is going to get an Oscar nomination for this movie, it will be him. He plays a character that is likable while also clearly very ambitious and trying to drive himself into power. Finally, I liked the direction the film went with the villain, it initially seemed like it was going to go in a similar direction to the first film but as more of the plot develops, the main antagonist is revealed to be quite different than Commodus.

I don't have many major issues with the film. The first 2/3rds of the film are a bit derivative of the original film. Many of the characters and plot beats feel very similar to the original film. It is only in the third act that things start to split. It didn't hurt the movie too much for me as this was more of a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of thing. I did think the final moments of the film were a bit anticlimactic. There is still a big battle towards the end but the end of the battle just didn't quite land for me. I thought it could have been a little more epic.

Overall, while it doesn't reach the heights of the original film, it is still a solid follow-up and a very good movie. As long as you don't go in expecting it to be as good as the first film, you will have a good time with this one.

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+ Recommendation: This is a must-see film.