By Jesse Dolojan, Staff Writer
Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” excessively pays tribute to its predecessor, struggling to establish its own identity. While it is a fun movie filled with star power that attempts to carry its repetitive script, it falls short of the lofty standards the first film set.
Fans of Paul Mescal crying about his feelings can rejoice because he continues to do so as Lucius Verus Aurelius. At the beginning of the film, he is forced to fight as a gladiator in the Colosseum after being captured by Rome when his village is sacked. One of Rome’s top generals, Acasius, who is played by Pedro Pascal, led the siege. Lucius’s slave owner Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington, is an ambitious man who plans to use Lucius’s success in the Colosseum to spearhead a political career in Rome.
The actors shine as brightly as they can despite the script they had to work with. The story follows the first movie almost beat by beat, with Mescal and Pascal having various similarities with the main character Maximus from the first film. Unfortunately, neither are given enough time or enough unique dialogue to separate themselves from Maximus’s shadow. This is not helped by the film referencing Maximus every few minutes.
Washington’s character is the most unique of the main three. His career trajectory from slave owner to Roman political figure grabs the audience’s attention immediately. He provides the most striking performance of the three, which stems from the writing of his character being the most compelling.
Each actor turns in a strong performance, but all would have benefitted from a more original script. Anyone who has watched the first movie will recognize that the plot points in the second are exactly the same as the first. The first movie can be summarized as a warrior in an army being forced into the Colosseum to fight with the final goal of liberating Rome from a corrupt ruler. Those who watched “Gladiator II” will stop and say, “Wait, that’s the same thing as Gladiator II!” Not only that—there are times where the movie just feels poorly written and even a struggle to watch until the action starts again.
It is a movie that chooses not to avoid the shadow of the first film, but instead to embrace it, and it suffers because of it. Maximus is brought up almost every 30 minutes, with constant callbacks and references to the first film peppered throughout the runtime. Even the ending of “Gladiator II” is a reference to the first movie, which feels very forced and unnecessary. The writing is the movie’s weakest point because it lacks originality, but it does make up for it in a variety of other ways.
The original gladiator movie was released in 2000, with Russell Crowe playing Maximus.
While Mescal and Pascal do struggle to establish their own identity, they are still a blast to watch. Mescal’s Lucius grows from a vengeful warrior in agony to a hero committed to saving Rome, and Pascal’s Acasius struggles to balance his loyalty to Rome and his love for Connie Nelson’s Lucille, a returning character from the first film. The fun each actor brings does not compare to the pure weight and presence of Russell Crowe’s Maximus. Crowe brought a massive stage presence to the first movie, with his performance carrying the film and making it a must watch action film.
While none of the actors are able to match Russell Crowe, “Gladiator II” does an exceptional job with its action scenes. From the opening siege to the ending, every fight scene is a spectacle that outshines the first film in spectacle. Various action scenes such as Mescal and Pascal’s duel and when the Colosseum gets flooded for a sea battle are showstopping displays of force where director Ridley Scott is having just as much fun as the actors warring with each other. Scenes such as those make “Gladiator II” a tour de force of action to watch once everyone starts screaming, ready to hack each other’s heads off. Anyone who has seen the first movie knows that “Gladiator II” never needed to exist— the first movie concludes on a note where all main storylines are wrapped up. While “Gladiator II” is not a masterpiece, it is still an entertaining movie. Each actor brings their strongest efforts to save a mediocre script, with action scenes making up for a confusing and repetitive plot. While I was entertained, I cannot recommend this movie as strongly as I would the first one.