Gladiator II is directed by Ridley Scott (I don’t think I need to list what he’s directed) the film serves as a sequel to Gladiator (2000). 

Gladiator (2000) is one of those films where even if you aren’t into film you have probably seen or heard of it referenced somewhere and rightfully so. It’s an iconic film that won Best Picture at the Oscars and is still talked about, examined and celebrated to this day. A sequel to Gladiator (2000) was always talked about but for one reason or another it never happened until it was announced officially in 2018. Gladiator II is one of those cases where it’s a prime example of just leaving the original as is, because outside of a few scenes and performance this was really a whole lot of nothing. 

As you probably have heard by now, Denzel Washington is far and away the standout of the movie. He brings this interesting balance of this calm and collective villain behavior and mixes it with a chaotic one, he doesn’t going over the top with it which I think really makes his character Marcinus all the more intimidating. Washington is just also a blast to watch on screen and continues to show that here, his moments with Tim Mclnnery although small are actually quite fun. The two have this bond that strangely works well (I wish the movie explored Mclnnery’s character Thraex a lot more but that’s a common theme with this movie I’ll get to soon.) 

Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger are also quite fun, their characters Emperor Geta (played by Quinn) and Emperor Caracalla (played by Hechinger) don’t have a lot of depth to them and the most we really get about their characters is that they are evil emperors but the way Quinn and Hechinger go about playing them is genuinely hilarious and chaotic. I’m not sure if I would call these “good” performances but at the very least they stood out in a movie that is painfully dull and get a reaction out of the viewer. Pedro Pascal is also pretty decent here, again we don’t get much on his character General Acacius but he does have some good moments such as the action scenes. 

The rest of the movie however is a complete and total mess, it’s basically doing a lot of what the first film did but nowhere near as interesting. A huge problem I hinted at earlier is the characters, while the acting is strong for the most part. It’s the characters who get absolutely no depth to them at all, Paul Mescal’s character Lucius is very typical protagonist that really doesn’t bring anything new to the table. He’s a less interesting Maximus from the first movie and his journey is way too similar to Maximus’s, we get some flashbacks that try to give Lucius some more depth and explanation of his past but it’s very skimmed over. It ultimately does not lead to anything compelling or exciting for the viewer it’s just there to briefly try its best to try to fill in some holes. 

The action scenes here are fine enough, thanks to the cinematography from John Mathieson who does a beautiful job with the filming. But unfortunately that doesn’t stop the CGI fights from being ugly, it’s a very weird mishmash between some genuinely great shots with some terrible CGI that easily takes you out of some of the action. It’s a shame because I do think the fights themselves in concept are neat and actually do have some solid atmosphere, but to say the CGI doesn’t take away from these scenes would be lying. 

Overall there really isn’t much more to be said, Gladiator II is one of those sequels that exists that also doesn’t do anything better or interesting to its predecessor. It’s a shame because I do think with a far better script and a more focused direction this could have been something great.

Gladiator II is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+