Gladiator II
The wait is finally over. Gladiator II is finally out and we can finally have closure. Well depending on who you ask. If you ask me Gladiator II is your prototypical sequel. Some might even say it's a retelling of the initial story but that isn't for me to decide. I’m here to discuss the here and now. And what we have here is your standard revenge plot with a small dash of political intrigue. Not enough for my liking but I have to give them credit for creating a couple of good storylines.
It wasn’t too long ago that I re-watched Gladiator for the first time in a minute. So going into this movie I had a couple of theories running through my mind. Mainly pondering all the different directions this film could go. Especially, since it’s been over two decades. How would you attack the challenge of trying to top a classic?
Do you try to stick with the status quo or come at it with a different angle or twist? Well Gladiator II attempts to do all three. They spread themselves too thin if you ask me. And as a result, some of their most coveted character roles fell flat. It’s almost like they were playing in an orchestra right before the grand crescendo. Then a quarter of the band stopped playing cause they ran out of sheet music. I get it’s a crude analogy but you get my point.
Major moments that were tide shifting came up shallow because they were trying to do too much. Trust me I appreciate the effort. I wish they invested more into building up the characters rather than the situation. Maybe then I would've felt the gravity of the situation a bit more. Don’t get me wrong they dropped plenty of bars in this movie. Whether it was coming from Paul Mescal's Lucius or Pedro Pascal as General Acacius.
But once you get past that initial intrigue and can see all the players on the board. The writing was on the wall for most of the story beats. Sometimes even literally. So to say that this is a direct copycat of the first movie isn't entirely wrong. Gladiator II is missing the foundational work to make it stand out. It was almost like they couldn't decide if they wanted to make a coming-of-age story or a full-out revenge plot. And the small flashbacks they gave us were not enough to make Lucius half as compelling as Maximus. Gladiator II is just a more extreme version of the first movie.
The person who stole the show was of course the one and only Denzel Washington as Macrinus. Which at this point shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. But I was super curious how they were going to bring him into the fold as a new character. At this point, I don’t think it would even matter. Based on Denzel Washington’s career he can elevate any role he is given. Or should I say any role he chooses to take on? Cause we know Denzel is not out here just playing any role that comes across his desk.
Pedro Pascal on the other hand plays to the level of his competition in a sense. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed in his performance per se but I did expect a little more from his character. To live up to the hype in a sense. Granted you can only go as far as the script leads you to a certain extent.
Macrinus was the most interesting character out of the bunch. Not because Denzel Washington plays him. But because his character had the most ambition. The two Emperors were just created to make you dislike them. Nothing more nothing less. Acacius was tired of all the bloodshed and wanted to retire to be with his wife. Lucius was doing "chosen one" type things but came off a little bland at times. Lucilla was there mainly to stir the pot. Nobody had any real plans for their future. So in a sense, all that mattered was right now.
You might say that’s how it should be. In most cases, you’d be right. But in this case, since Gladiator II is a sequel there’s an initial feeling of hope for what could eventually be. Instead, they take on a similar path as the first film where there is an end in sight. Now inherently that is not a bad thing. But if they had taken a different approach the final flip would have hit much harder.
Don’t get me wrong though Gladiator II is a very entertaining movie. I also think it’s worth it to see in theaters. The different coliseum moments were epic. They even had sharks in that joint. Don't ask me how but they did. Overall it was a fun movie to watch. There’s just a lot of give and take with this film. Some stuff you just gotta roll with. This is why I would give Gladiator II an 8/10 G-Files Score.
Gladiator II is not a bad movie it’s just not as great as I hoped it to be. Who knows maybe after another watch I might feel differently. But as of right now today I think it was cool. I mean trying to best Russell Crow’s Maximus is no easy feat. Bro is Legendary.
