Alex Wheeler Movie Ops

Gladiator took the world by storm in 2000. The historical epic was the second-highest grossing film of the year and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Its grandiosity was matched only by how well the whole thing was pulled off, almost in spite of its self-important streak. It was loved and respected, which sets up Gladiator II for a downfall. How could it live up?

One could argue that Gladiator II doesn’t try to. Whether intentional or not, it’s thoroughly mediocre, not worthy of being reviled or glorified. Where its predecessor attained greatness it delivers something we’ve seen before, and not just in Gladiator. It is every sword-and-sandal movie that came before it, featuring grand battles, politcal scheming, and all the sweaty masculinity you can mop up. It’s not a bad film. It’s just not Gladiator, and retaining that name makes mediocre is a letdown.

The film follows a new gladiator, Lucius (Paul Mescal), who is forced into the colosseum when his home and wife fall to Roman forces led by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal). A vendetta is set, although Acacius proves a more conflicted man than he initially appears. In fact, the only people reviling in this version of Rome are those that have or seek unlimited power. Those include the two emperors, Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), and the gladiator owner Macrinus (Denzel Washington).

Since Gladiator II not a subtle film, it’s clear that the former are heroes and the latter villains. The emperors frolic with disdainful cruelty, the side eyes surrounding them making it clear that their power is tenuous. Quinn and Hechinger have fun with the roles, but not nearly as much fun as Denzel has as the mustache-twirling (sans mustache) Macrinus. He chews every bit of the lavish scenery in a performance that feels at odds with the actors around him but in line with the film around him.

That’s because nothing in Gladiator II can be taken seriously. Historical fact is a laughable afterthought. After all, this is a film that features a newspaper long before printing reached their part of the world. Any semblance of good taste was abandoned when the histrionic script was plopped in front of director Ridley Scott. Denzel, with all his smarmy charm, was the only once clued in to the movie he was in.

None of the other actors got the memo, particularly Mescal, Pascal, and a returning Connie Nielsen as Lucilla. They take their characters’ idealism and twisted family lineages seriously, but the writing simply doesn’t support their efforts. This story is bland and obvious, only pausing long enough between battles and male peacocking for some rote scenes about family history. Because of course, Lucius can’t just be some guy. There must be a reason for his hatred of Rome and his uncanny skills in the colosseum. And that part of Gladiator II is as perfunctory as it gets.

Still, if that trio didn’t take the plot seriously, the whole thing likely would’ve fallen into that odd space between camp and just plain bad. That’s because director Ridley Scott, for all his flippancy towards history and subtlety, does take his action seriously, and this movie is suffused with great action scenes.

The opening battle is appropriately grand in scale, with an endless fleet of Roman ships plowing through a city’s defenses. From there, the action moves largely to the colosseum, with an array of staged fights taking place before screaming crowds. Like the rest of the movie, these are absolutely ridiculous. Lucius’ method for taking out a rhino is not only laughable but pretty incoherent. Later, any semblance of reality is thrown out the window when the colosseum is filled with water (this element is based in reality) for a reenactment of a famous naval battle. Awaiting any poor souls who fall off the ships are bloodthirsty sharks, which is where the sequence completely abandons credulity. The Romans weren’t schlepping live sharks miles inland to the city, and if they tried I imagine it going down like something out of Deep Blue Sea.

If you can put reality aside, these sequences are fun, and they come with such regularity that they keep the whole film from getting bogged down. And even in between the action, there’s still Denzel hamming it up and a couple of truly garish emperors prancing around. None of this makes Gladiator II good, but it does make it passably entertaining. That’s a far cry from its predecessor, but it’s not a waste of time, either. 

Release: Available now in theaters
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: David Scarpa
Cast: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger