Since the earliest beginnings of Ridley Scott’s storied career, the now 86-year-old Brit has positioned himself as a purveyor of two things: the science fiction epic and the historical epic. Since 1977, with a tirelessness rarely paralleled in the industry, Scott has released one or another of these on a nearly annual basis. And through it all, highs and lows, classics and flops aside, his mission has remained markedly singular: to entertain.
Gladiator II arrives hot on the heels of a busy few years for Scott, following last year’s middling Napoleon, and comes as the latest in his long line of bloated historical fan fictions. While it will not surprise or edify even the most naïve popcorn purchaser at any cineplex in the world, if Scott’s guiding principal is to entertain – then he has not betrayed himself.
By all accounts, some version of Gladiator II has been in the works nearly since the release of 2000’s Oscar-dominating original, including a purported screenplay draft by Nick Cave in which Russell Crowe’s Maximus fought his way out of the Roman underworld and back to his family.
The sequel we have been presented with dispenses with any clever mechanisms that would allow Crowe to reprise his role, and instead acts as a near-recapitulation of the original’s major beats, set 16 years hence with some new names and faces.
Paul Mescal plays Lucius, the conspicuous sole white man in an army of North Africans when their province of Numidia is invaded by the Roman army. When his wife is killed about thirty seconds after her introduction by General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), Lucius is captured, sold into slavery, and set upon his mission of vengeance.
In the spirit of a sequel, Lucius must contend with not one but two lead-poisoned, syphilitic raving emperors, the twins Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), as he works his way through the ranks of gladiators owned by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), all while embracing his true origins and saving the soul of the Roman Republic. This largely amounts to 148 minutes of historically ridiculous gladiator fights with some handwringing between.
The fights are certainly Gladiator II’s highlight and, for the most part, they don’t disappoint. The choreography is spectacular, and the gore is ramped up to meet the film’s R-rating. As evidenced by 2021’s The Last Duel, Scott is still master of the big-budget battle. But unlike the original, Gladiator II relies much more heavily on digital effects both in and outside the coliseum, whether its heroes are fighting sharks (yes), baboons (yes) or legionnaires. While some of the effects work is mildly impressive, it mostly serves as a distraction from the fight choreography itself, and as a result the battles lack the visceral heft of the original’s.
But more than anything, what’s lacking is characters to care for. The original Gladiator was no less absurd a spectacle, chock-full of anachronisms and wayward accents, but it was impossible not to become deeply invested in its characters as they screamed and spit their way through its totally gratifying paint-by-numbers plot. Gladiator II is almost entirely vacant in this regard, and the tension of its bombastic action sequences suffers for it.
Mescal, still riding high off his Oscar-nominated turn in 2022’s small triumph Aftersun, tries to bring his quiet gravity to the role of Lucius, but the result is low-energy and ultimately forgettable. He’s an extremely capable performer, so perhaps the material is to blame, but there’s not an ounce of pathos to be found and he’s brought no camp to make up for it. Pascal is similarly out of place, and while he commands a wonderful Roman profile (as does Mescal), his attempts at somber general-speak feel entirely phoned in.
While the twin emperors can’t capture the magic of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus, Quinn and Hechinger both bring all the high camp they can muster, and contribute to a number of II’s more engaging moments. Speaking of high camp, Washington (unsurprisingly) understands the assignment entirely, and remains the most watchable character in the film, glibly stealing every scene he appears in.
As with the rest, Harry Gregson-Williams’ score is less memorable than Hans Zimmer’s original. The set pieces are at least more ridiculous, but are mostly spoiled by the film’s trailer. Still, if what you’re after is bronzer and blood, there’s more competent swordplay than you can shake a stick at and plenty of mindless fun to be had.
At an early screening of Gladiator II at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Scott confirmed he’s already in talks for a potential Gladiator III – and that it’s time to move beyond the bounds of the coliseum. Perhaps he’ll get Nick Cave back in the mix and we can finally have our underworld fairytale. And why not? While II hasn’t fulfilled the classic status of its predecessor, it has fulfilled Scott’s pledge to his audience.
Are you not… well, I don’t have to say it.
