Gladiator II-2024
Director Ridley Scott
Starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington
Scott’s Review #1,456
Reviewed December 21, 2024
Grade: B+
Ridley Scott, who directed Gladiator (2000), returns to the fold to direct Gladiator II almost twenty-five years later. Both are epic proportions and center on the barbaric yet luscious Ancient Roman Era.
It’s the type of film best seen in the theater on a large screen with loud surround sound. It’s bloodier than the first Gladiator.
Scott wisely incorporates snippets of the original’s ending to familiarize the audience with the events and ties a significant character to characters from the first film, both dead and alive.
The great thing about Scott directing both films is that despite the long gap between them, they feel very much aligned and have a similar tone.
When the film begins, we are told that Rome is nearly ruinous and led by tyrants. The peacefulness after Maximus’s (Russell Crowe in Gladiator) death is sadly gone.
Rome is now ruled by corrupt twin emperors, Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). They are barbaric and evil and use scare tactics to keep the masses in line.
We meet Lucius (Paul Mescal) when the emperors of Rome steal his home and kill his wife. He has unrelenting rage in his heart, and it’s revealed that he is the rightful heir to Rome and witnessed his father’s (Maximus) death at the hands of his uncle as a young boy.
With the empire’s future at stake, he looks to the past to find the strength and honor needed to return the glory of Rome to its people.
The fact that Lucius is the rightful heir and that his mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), is still alive and now remarried to General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) provides immediate rooting value.
Combined with the viciousness of the current regime, we want the good guys to beat the bad guys. The bloody battles and the machismo nature of the story make it a muscular vehicle sure to appeal to a male audience.
It’s that type of film.
However, there is much to see visually to titillate one’s loins. Mescal looks chiseled and cut in his gladiator attire, sweatily and bloodily fighting others to the death. His hunky nature and dreamy blue eyes only make the character a sure crowd-pleaser.
Mescal also looks enough like Crowe to make the heritage believable.
Pascal and Denzel Washington are terrific in supporting roles. Washington, as Macrinus, a motivated leader intent on having the throne for himself, is bisexual, though this is hardly explored other than one line of dialogue.
A rumored kiss between Macrinus and another male character was reportedly scrapped, and shame on the powers that be for that. Too much for mainstream audiences?
The central LGBTQ+ presence is saved for the more unhinged twin ruler in a more stereotypical form.
There is little unpredictability since we know from the start that Lucius will conquer the tyranny and save the Roman people from further chaos.
But, the violent matches between gladiators and vicious beasts and one another are entertaining to watch and enthralling in their violence.
The visuals of a mock Roman Colosseum and palatial dining areas are well constructed and look real enough to transport us to the Roman Era.
Politically, the twins are compared to present-day tyrannical rulers in office and a rogue’s gallery of appointed officials. Although it can be argued that the twins are somewhat played for laughs, the fact that dictators like this rule is scary.
Gladiator (2000) packs more emotional punch than Gladiator II (2024), but watching them in parallel would be fun. From a story perspective, they link well and have the same look and feel.
