“Gladiator II” Is a Fun Encore But Lacks The Impact of The First – Review
- Colton Gomez
- Jan 1
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 2
Review
By Colton Gomez | 01/01/25 | 6:40 P.M. Mountain Time
Action, Adventure | Rated R | 2 hr 28 min | "Gladiator II" Release Date: November 22, 2024
“What we do in life echoes in eternity.” “Gladiator II” feels like a mere echo of the first, which was released twenty-four years after the first one took home five Oscars, including Best Picture. I don’t think this one will win any Oscars or have the lasting impact as the first. It’s good in its action sequences but everything else feels lacking.
Lucius (Paul Mescal) was sent away from Rome as a boy after the death of emperor Commodus. With a new identity and living in Numidia, his city is conquered by Roman General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who forces him to fight as a gladiator. Macrinus (Denzel Washington) champions Lucius, who goes by Hanno, as he fights his way up the ranks into the Roman Colosseum. There, he navigates politics and secret plots to return Rome to a republic while fighting in the arena.
Paul Mescal is good as Lucius but I wish he had more things to do. He’s a soldier who fights against Rome and that’s about all he is. He displays a great physicality in fight scenes and has the gravitas of a leader. But here, he seems underutilized, or at least, not used in the right way. His leadership moments are short but he does the best he can with what he has. This seems like a failure in the script or is director Ridley Scott’s lack of confidence in Mescal as a performer. Mescal almost seems miscast because what he’s bringing to the film seems slightly out of step with the rest of it. He’s a good actor, but either he wasn’t the right person for this role, or the character wasn’t the right one for the story. Like almost everything with this film, it’s close but not quite there.
A lot of my issues with the film stem from the script. Odd character dynamics, plot points, and characters themselves don’t quite all fit together. It’s especially strained when compared to the first film. The twin emperors didn’t seem to do much, either. Mad boys in charge of an empire who operated, not like two sides of a coin, rather, mostly one side of a coin and the rest of the same side of the coin.
The use of Pascal’s Acacius felt wasted. Here was a great character with interesting subtext, especially in his fight with Mescal’s Lucius. But he didn’t get to do anything important, really. He felt more like a weird, prolonged cameo than a character with a stake in the story. His relationship with Lucius was interesting until it flipped a one-eighty and they came to a sudden resolution that felt unnatural. It’s like the film is going for “Gladiator’s” Biggest Hits and missing all the meaning behind them.
Among the essentials collection, plenty of nods to the first film are made. Probably too many. This is a tough movie to get right, to be sure. After the first film was a monumental success, what can the sequel bring to it? It has to be a sequel as well as a remake due to the time that has passed since the original. You have to pay homage to the first one without feeling too fan-servicey. It has to be the same thing but different. Ridley Scott and team were fighting a tough uphill battle and I don’t think they quite succeeded.
Where the film shines, though, is in its action sequences. The hand-to-hand combat, swordfights, animal fights, and the naval battle were all bloody good fun. Mescal sells the hurt and strain in his face and yells through gritted teeth. Each one, from the smaller stages to elaborate set pieces, was a joy to watch and I noticed my hands moving slightly, as if I wanted to get in on the action. Very satisfying for the gore-seeking audience member, as Scott holds up a cultural mirror across time.
Besides the great action and fight choreography, the film doesn’t have much to offer. The story felt really close to being a great one but stumbled slowly to the finish line. It seems as if Scott’s ideas didn’t translate very well from his head to the page to the screen and to the audience. As extremely difficult a movie of this caliber looks to make, it’s probably a miracle the movie got made at all. I can sense the greatness, I can feel the bigger, better version of this movie struggling to come out. It’s as if, despite his or anyone’s best efforts, they just couldn’t pull all the pieces together in a satisfying, rewarding way. Maybe that first movie was touched by Minerva and this one, by the pandemic and strikes.
There seemed to be an unusual amount of day-for-night in this movie. Why? It makes me think I’m missing something thematic about bright night scenes but maybe it just wasn’t feasible for production. Did the lighting budget run out? Too many times I saw a harsh shadow and squinting actors in a blue color grade. I understand a few times, as they might not even be noticeable on the first watch, but almost every night scene was shot during the day. I understand there can be myriad issues that dictate filming this way, but after so many times, it was removing me from the story.
The performances by Mescal, Pascal, and Washington felt meditated and truthful. Washington’s performance, in particular, was the most convincing. His character started out strong but ended somewhat poorly. They skipped a couple steps in his development. Regardless, his performance was on the mark and was very enjoyable to watch every time he came on screen (even though I hate watching people chew in movies).
The film ends somewhat lazily. Lucius rallies the troops and delivers a pacifying speech that inspires all ten thousand or so on the battlefield to join him. I kept thinking about the “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” scene where Jesus delivers His sermon on the mount and those in the back can only say, “Speak up!” The film stumbles to the finish line and accomplishes its goal of getting made after twenty or so years of waiting for the green light. It’s a good encore but nothing more.
Hail Dundas.
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Review by Colton Gomez
Colton Gomez earned his BA in Film Studies from Weber State University. He owns and operates ColtonGomez.com. Here, he covers new releases in theaters and on streaming. For short versions of his reviews, check out his LetterBoxd
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