A prisoner of war sold into slavery rises through the ranks of the gladiators in ancient Rome to enact bloody revenge on the general responsible for the death of his wife in Gladiator II, opening in Prague and cinemas worldwide this weekend. This eye-popping sequel packs plenty of sword and sandal spectacle into its narrative but struggles to tell a consistently compelling story, and lives in the shadow of its Oscar-winning predecessor.
But are we not entertained? Well, yes, and more than sufficiently so. Gladiator II boasts action scenes so dazzling in scale and invention they dwarf what we saw in the earlier film while vividly recreating the awe-inspiring spectacle of ancient Rome. Director Ridley Scott utilizes every last resource to deliver jaw-dropping scenes of gladiator action unlike anything that we have previously seen.
In Gladiator II, you will witness:
- A Roman naval siege on ancient Numidia, as General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) crashes a fleet of warships into an oceanside fort, erecting towers to scale the fortress walls.
- A horde of ravenous baboons unleashed to devour prisoners of war, who sink their teeth into unwitting victims until our rage-filled hero Hanno (Paul Mescal) takes a bite out of one of them.
- A rhinoceros-riding praetorian combatant who hurls a bola at fleeing opponents, tripping them up so his beast can impale them on its horn and fling them at the Colosseum walls.
- A thrilling naval battle recreated in a flooded Colosseum, where archers fire upon each other from rival ships, vessels plow into each other, and those thrown into the water are devoured by sharks.
- An epic conclusion that sees gladiator-slaves scale the walls and enter the Colosseum seats to enact bloody revenge upon their oppressors.
And the story to make sense of these thrilling scenes of gladiatorial action? It’s 15 years after the events of Gladiator, and twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) aren’t exactly following in the footsteps of Marcus Aurelius. Their aggressive military expansion has left Acacius weary, and he plots insurrection alongside wife Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), Aurelius’ daughter and heir, and Senator Gracchus (Derek Jacobi), the only returning cast members from the original 2000 film.
Behind the scenes, others are also clamoring to seize power amidst an ineffective Roman senate, including the treacherous Senator Thraex (Tim McInnerny) and wealthy gladiator sponsor Macrinus (Denzel Washington).
There’s also a gladiator story somewhere in here, too, and it’s remarkably similar to the first film. After the Roman army besieges Numidia, killing Hanno’s wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen), the young warrior is captured by the invading army, sold into slavery and purchased by Macrinus, and trained to compete in the Colosseum by Vigo (Lior Raz). It’s a series of events that hews so close to the first film Gladiator II sometimes feels like a remake.
But underneath it all, there are some surprises to be found. How Hanno’s story ties into the first film is only hinted at during the first half of Gladiator II, before being fully revealed towards the end of the movie. The film’s trailer and just about all publicity material spell things out, however, doing a disservice to how writers Peter Craig & David Scarpa framed their story, which ultimately ties into the events of the earlier film in a more satisfying way than most legacy sequels.
Hanno initially vows vengeance on Acacius for the death of his wife, and Macrinus is happy to promise him the general’s head in return for victorious gladiatorial campaigns. But unlike the straightforward revenge narrative in the earlier film, Gladiator II peels back the layers to reveal a more nuanced story that explores the bigger picture, and what these characters are really fighting for.
As Gladiator II quotes the real Marcus Aurelius, “the best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” In cinematic terms, that doesn’t usually equal a satisfying narrative, but it is certainly an interesting one. The final scene between Mescal and Pascal in the Colosseum is the best in the movie, and an instant classic.
Mescal has a certain understated charm but he feels miscast in this role, which calls out for a more commanding and perhaps over-the-top central presence (Pascal often feels like a better fit). Unlike Russell Crowe in the earlier film, glimpsed here through flashbacks, Mescal underplays his gladiator, leading to what feel like sudden shifts in character motivation that haven’t been fully realized.
We can feel the small, intimate moments that would have really brought this character to life—sitting on the cutting room floor as victims of judicious editing after Scott had to get this sprawling epic in at exactly 2.5 hours. Last year’s Napoleon was significantly improved with Scott’s director’s cut, but the director has stated that this edit of Gladiator II, which suffers from the same rushed pacing issues, is his definitive version.
With Mescal’s subdued lead, supporting performances tend to dominate the narrative. Much of the rest of the cast hams it up to wonderful effect: Quinn and Hechinger are campy Game of Thrones-style villains as the twin emperors, as is Matt Lucas as the Colosseum emcee. And Washington steals the whole film in a bravura Shakespearean villain turn as Macrinus; so utterly compelling is his presence that his storyline overtakes the entire narrative at the film’s climax.
While Harry Gregson-Williams’ score never has the impact of Hans Zimmer’s work in the original, Gladiator II looks breathtaking in IMAX, with returning cinematographer John Mathieson’s truly epic widescreen scope mesmerizing throughout. In a year of multiple blockbuster disappointments, Gladiator II stands next to Dune: Part Two as truly cinematic experiences that demand to be seen on the big screen.
Few sequels can live up to Oscar-winning originals, and Gladiator II is no The Godfather Part II in that regard; this one is just too sprawling and narratively muddled to deliver on the same terms as the original, and outside of the technical categories, it’s unlikely to be a hit with Oscar voters. But it’s also not a disappointment; this is a bloody, larger-than-life spectacle that commands attention and delivers in cinematic terms that few films can match. You will be entertained.
