Gladiator II

 Score:  B-/C+

Directed by Ridley Scott

Starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Pedro Pascal

Running time: 148 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short:  Gladiator II attempts to bring back the historical grandeur and visceral thrills of the 2000 classic, but fails.  Denzel Washington's trainer/manipulator provides a compelling and entertaining presence, but mostly the movie tries to both recreate the original while also moving it forward, leading to pointless and dull circling.  Mescal is a far, far cry from Russell Crowe and even the action is mostly a disappointment.  Skip this, at least in theaters. 

Lucius (Mescal), a soldier in Africa, is forced into slavery following the Roman Empire's conquest of his home.  He and others are brought to Rome to become gladiators, a blood sport in which the contestants kill each other for the entertainment of massive audiences in the Colosseum.  The twin, mad emperors of Rome have begun a gladiatorial tournament in honor of their army's latest conquest.  Lucius is purchased and trained by Macrinus (Washington), who sees a level of skill and passion in Lucius that he believes will bring him glory - and wealth.  While Lucius struggles for both survival and vengeance against his captors, at the other end of Roman society, former emperor Marcus Aurelius's daughter, Lucilla (Nielsen), ponders and plans with her husband, general Acacius (Pascal), how to end the vicious cycle of violence.

Gladiator II is a failed follow-up to the classic 2000 original, both trying too hard to mirror it and also coming up short in most cinematic areas, from acting to writing.  The structure of Part II is familiar but also odd - it seems to want to be both sequel to and remake of Gladiator.  By that I mean it follows most of the overall plot structure of the original (and doesn't waste any opportunities to squeeze in call-back moments).  Yet it also tries to move the plot of the original forward, using both "new" (essentially replacement) characters and old, which gives the sensation of spinning its wheels in the mud.  The best part of the movie by far is new character Macrinus, played by Denzel, as both Lucius's trainer and mentor as well as a political player.  His acting is great, of course, and the character also has much more complexity and nuance than any other character.  The others, both actors and characters, are mediocre to poor.  Mescal as Lucius is a pitiful shadow of Crowe's greatness as Maximus; he is much more annoying than heroic.  He may have physical prowess but is a dull to off-putting character.  It's also tough to watch Lucilla's (Nielsen) larger role here.  Trying to expand a minor role into a lead is tricky at best, and the attempt fails badly here; it just feels forced all around.  The twin emperors are kind of entertaining in their sheer madness, though they get little screen time; Pascal is charismatic as usual but is given an extremely generic role with little to do  Overall, the movie tries to check all the boxes of character roles from the original (and accentuate the violent "manliness" of gladiators, presumably for the "bros").  Except for Macrinus, it all comes off as artificial and/or poor imitation.

The main draw is the action, of course, and overall it's fine; some is great, some is fine, but quite a bit is disappointing, too.  The opening war scene (again, mirroring original movie) is tremendous with excellent visuals and intensity but in a much different setting from the original, raising hopes for the rest of the film.  Most of the gladiator scenes are disappointing, though; there are some interesting ideas here and there, but most of the scenes are too short.  It would have been much better to jettison some fights altogether (and some of the tired ideas) and extend the good ones, in my opinion.  The final gladiator scene is absurd, too, departing the fairly realistic if entertainingly-heightened style of the original in favor of an almost fantasy setup.  I did like that the finale avoided what could have been an even bigger bloodbath, even if it also resulted in an ending that felt rather sudden and empty.  Along with the uneven, at best, acting and action, the writing and directing (by legend Ridley Scott!) is subpar thanks to cliched dialogue and poor pacing.  Finally, the sequel doesn't even have a great score to fall back on, like the original's from Hans Zimmer: the music didn't stand out to me at all here.

***

When I first heard there would be a sequel to Gladiator, my first reaction was skepticism, which I should have held onto.  But with a dearth of interesting movies this fall, and finding out Denzel Washington was in it, I decided to give it a chance.  It's a great example, if nothing else, of why Hollywood should stop making so many damn sequels and remakes.  I'm not opposed to sequels and remakes in general - I watch and enjoy many of them.  But the desire to rely on the comfortingly familiar elements in them is often too tempting.  The director, writers, actors, and all involved must be even more alert to the fundamentals of good filmmaking and trying to make a solid work that can also stand by itself.  Gladiator II largely fails in all of these things.  Hopefully there will be a few more movies to see before the end of the year in order to end 2024 on a better note!

* By IMP Awards, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77311566