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Gladiator II (2024)
Savage. Silly. Spectacular. More than two decades after the original won ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars, Gladiator II injects the world with some good old-fashioned anabolic steroids. As with any illicit steroid use, this is not to be encouraged and produces some very mixed results.
Director Ridley Scott’s storyline picks up about 20 years after the original Gladiator’s fateful clash between tough but traumatised Maximus and self-pitying Commodus. We follow Lucius Varus, the young boy who accidentally gave the game away about Maximus’ imminent coup in Gladiator. After watching his hero suffer the consequences, it turns out he went full witness protection programme. New city, new name, new…muscles? That’s right, the skinny kid got jacked.
When Lucius’ (Paul Mescal) home is conquered by the ever-expanding reach of the Roman Empire under General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), he is enslaved and forced to fight. Lucius’ owner and sponsor, Macrinus (Denzel Washington), sets him on a recognisable journey from small-time desert arena to the bright lights of Rome’s Colosseum.
Twin Emperors and total psychopaths (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger) are ruling the roost, while Lucius’ mother Lucilla (Connie Nielson reprising her role) is still stuck doing what she can to survive. She’s also dating Pedro Pascal’s character, which in any other circumstance would mean she’s thriving. The future of the empire is at stake but a furious and vengeful Lucius must reckon with his past if he is to seize his destiny.
It’s so difficult to overstate how much this film amps everything up, that to understate it would feel out of kilter with the movie. An exercise in subtlety can be found by comparing to Emperor Commodus’ clammy and unwell aesthetic in Gladiator. That wouldn’t be enough for the twin emperors in Gladiator II, who have instead powdered their faces white and used red eye liner for their own imperial brand of conjunctivitis chic.
The comparisons keep flowing, invited by the film constantly and lazily dishing up throwbacks to the original. In Gladiator, Russell Crowe’s Maximus is mostly quite muted. He is softly spoken and rarely expressive, but it works. Skip ahead to this sequel, and it’s difficult to pin down any personality at all for Mescal’s Lucius. Meanwhile Nielson’s Lucilla, who could have brought continuity to the franchise, feels lacklustre and a little bit lost.
While the turbocharged plot left little time for nuanced character development, it’s not all bad. Denzel Washington steals the show as the wily Macrinus. Washington’s unparalleled charisma and on-screen presence keeps the audience invested in what could otherwise be quite dull scenes, and not for the first time (see: Training Day, Inside Man, Equaliser or basically anything he’s in).
But the chemistry between the other characters was at times so stilted that even Pascal seems to struggle. If you’re looking for the fiery excitement of his Game of Thrones performance as Oberyn Martell, then look elsewhere.
To give the actors a break though, these problems might have something to do with the writing. From Tacitus to Virgil, the dialogue is like a greatest hits of bumper sticker Roman philosophy. Dialogue made up entirely of ancient clichés and stoic maxims would be a challenge for any performer to land, and the emotional depth of the film suffers for it.
But if lack of character development leaves a sour taste in your mouth, fear not, you can always wash it down with bucket-loads of blood. Gladiator II as an action spectacle does not disappoint, with adrenaline-fuelled violence hacking and slashing its way into every other scene. The use of beasts in grand set pieces is certainly entertaining, if implausible. If this film goes on to win any accolades at all, the stunt actors deserve the lion’s share.
The music is also compelling in those moments where it does not lean too heavily on the original soundtrack. Composer Hans Zimmer gives way to Harry Gregson-Williams, whose use of choral music is particularly divine in adding much-needed tension.
The problem is there are just too many throwbacks for this to be considered a standalone film, which presents a double-edged sword. You have to watch the original Gladiator to fully appreciate it, but in watching the original Gladiator you exclude yourself from appreciating it much at all.
In ancient history, an arrogant emperor looked back on his reign and boasted that “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble”. Sadly, between Gladiator and Gladiator II, an arrogant producer has taken a masterpiece of marble and transformed it into common brick.
One day Hollywood will have matured enough to sensitively reimagine sequels or remakes. One day filmmakers will ask themselves if they’re using CGI because they should, or just because they could. One day the colosseum will rise again to a gripping storyline. That day may come. But not yet, not yet.