Gladiator II (2024).
Note: This review is spoiler-free.
Are you not entertained?
Rumors of a sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 Oscar-winning epic Gladiator have swirled for years. Nick Cave’s now infamous stab at Maximus’s journey through time and space was certainly an interesting pitch, but obviously never panned out. Over the years, several screenwriters were attached, but nothing promising materialized until David Scarpa, Scott’s collaborator on Napoleon, came into the picture.
IMDB has a spoiler right in the logline if you’re the kind of person who wants to go in blind, so I’ll mask that by saying that this story focuses on a man named Hanno who lives a quiet life in Numidia…until the Roman Empire comes knocking. Led by the Roman General Marcus Acacius in the name of insane twin rulers, Rome easily overwhelms the city, pillaging it and killing Hanno’s wife. Bad move. Now a slave, Hanno is bought by the political artist Macrinus, a man who yearns for power and will pull all the right strings to get more of it. At the start, Hanno wants one thing - the head of Marcus Acacius, but as he wins the crowd, he must look to his past to return the glory of Rome to it’s people.
The original film, anchored by Russell Crowe's unforgettable, Oscar winning performance as Maximus, left an indelible mark on cinema, blending action, a powerful story of strength, vengeance and redemption, and Hans Zimmer’s legendary score. Matching the magic of the original, a rare film that slayed the summer while winning multiple Oscars would be a tall task for a sequel.
Does it succeed? Like the film itself, the answer is a mix of triumph and tragedy, but overall, I was entertained.
“You will be my instrument.”
All of the performances are good, but as these things usually go, Denzel Washington steals the show. He plays Macrinus, a political puppeteer armed with more rings than my first apartment’s coffee table and a set of slaves who want to win their freedom in the Colosseum. As expected, his performance is magnetic. With his signature gravitas and razor-sharp delivery, Washington dominates every scene he’s in, reminding us why he’s one of Hollywood’s all-time greats. Whether he’s engaging in verbal sparring or delivering monologues laced with menace, his presence elevates the entire film, and the way he says “politicssssss” will probably live in my brain forever. He also gets to participate in some of the bloodiest scenes in the film, which was fun.
Paul Mescal plays Hanno, and while his portrayal is earnest and emotionally layered, he struggles to fill the immense shoes left by Russell Crowe. Maximus was a larger-than-life hero who commanded every frame; Mescal, by comparison, is more subdued, often overshadowed by the sheer charisma of his counterparts. It’s not that Mescal’s performance is bad—far from it—but he lacks the commanding screen presence that made Crowe’s Maximus unforgettable. In the second half of the film, Mescal even adopts vocal inflections reminiscent of Crowe’s Maximus. Pedro Pascal, who’s become one of my favorite actors, is great as the man in Hanno’s sights, and obviously there’s a lot more to his character. He’s a General who is tired of the death around him, but the twins simply won’t let him retire to spend time with his wife. Speaking of the twins…both Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger absolutely brought their A-game as broken descendants of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus. Hechinger has had an especially great year, also starring in one of my favorite films of the year, Thelma.
Into the Colisseum.
Part of the appeal of the original was the mixture of melodrama and action, and while some of the shots feel dated now, the battles still hold up. The sequel delivers, ratcheting up the action in thrilling ways. While the first was limited by 2000’s technology, this one adds new wrinkles to the arena, putting our gladiators up against men and animals, including a nod to the first film’s deleted rhino scene (you can see what was left on the cutting room floor in one of the Blu-ray special features).
The combat is more brutal than the first, drenched in blood, sweat, and grit. Ridley Scott’s direction shines here, capturing the chaos and brutality of the arena with an unflinching eye, while showcasing the grandeur and cruelty of ancient Rome. I do, however, have two complaints about these scenes. First, they seem to end way too quickly, as if Scott was too eager to move on to the next plot point. The abruptness disrupts the flow and left me craving more time to soak in the tension and stakes of each fight. I wanted more moments where the gladiators interacted with the crowd, caught their breath, or savored their victories.
The other nitpick I had about these scenes were the logistics of the other gladiators. For example, there’s a scene early on where Hanno and his fellow slaves are facing off against one man on a large animal. When the Roman warrior is ejected from his beast, he finds himself going one on one with Hanno, which we definitely want to see. But where are the other six or seven gladiators? They just disappear from the frame, presumably just hanging out in the background eating discarded leafs of lettuce while their brother in arms tries to stave off death…and this happens a few times, and I’d say it pulled me out of the action, but Scott did that right when the swords stopped swinging. I get it, we want to see Mescal’s Hanno, but you’ve got to have the other guys doing something.
A visual feast.
If there’s one thing you can count on with a Ridley Scott joint, it’s stunning visuals. The first one still holds up, and while you can tell things like CGI birds are there, even at nearly 25 years old, it’s never distracting. Gladiator II is more of the same. Scott’s eye for detail is on full display, from the sprawling sets of ancient Rome to the intricate costumes that bring the world to life. Several breathtaking overhead shots of Rome stood out, and every Colosseum scene feels monumental. The cinematography captures both the grand scale of the city and the intimate moments of the characters. Fans of historical epics will find plenty to admire here, as the film immerses you in a world that feels both authentic and larger than life, and if you liked the look of the first one, you’ll love this scenery too.
Standing in the shadow of greatness.
The one major complaint I had with the movie was that the climax simply cannot live up to the rest of the film. The final confrontation feels oddly muted and at the same time, extremely implausible. What could have been a climactic battle that mirrored the emotional stakes of the original instead becomes a disappointingly anti-climactic exchanges. This was an opportunity to see another deck stacked against our main character, but, while bloody, it just could not measure up to the rest of the film. Because of this, it fails to deliver the emotional payoff that the narrative has been building toward, and for a film so focused on legacy, this ending feels like a missed opportunity to truly honor the spirit of the original Gladiator.
That being said, I think that the film did pay homage to Gladiator in smart ways. Nothing really feels forced. I sat there wondering, “How are they going to force the phrase, “Are you not entertained?” into this film”, and luckily they never did. There were other lines that were smartly placed, however, and certain characters who return are used really effectively. The score is good, but does feel like an imitation of the original (although I must admit that I teared up a bit when I heard the famous Hans Zimmer riff as the credits rolled). Luckily, the plot is not just a rehash of the first, although I was a bit worried it would be after the first twenty minutes. And that’s the tough thing about sequels, they’ll inevitably be compared to their predecessors.
Gladiator was a cultural phenomenon, a film that transcended the historical epic, sword and sandal genre to become a modern classic that still holds up today. The sequel doesn’t quite reach those heights, but it’s still a worthy addition to the story that honors the legacy of the original while forging its own path, even if that path is occasionally uneven. For fans of the original Gladiator, this sequel offers plenty to enjoy. It’s ambitious, visually stunning, and packed with excellent performances, particularly from Denzel Washington and Fred Hechinger. If you’re a fan of Ridley Scott’s historical epics (most notably The Last Duel and Gladiator, of course), you should see this. I had a great time, and I’m excited to revisit it when it hits 4K UHD.
