Year of Release: 2024
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, Matt Lucas, Tim McInnerny, Richard McCabe, Alexander Karim, Yuval Gonen, Rory McCann, Yann Gael
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review
The prolific Ridley Scott is back, following the tepidly received (and actually not very good at all), "Napoleon". This time around this film is of course a sequel to one of his biggest commercial and critical hits, "Gladiator", which came out in 2000, and ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Picture (if that even means anything these days, since films like "Coda" and even "Green Book" also won that award). The narrative this time around focuses on Lucius who now goes by the name of Hanno. He's the son of Lucilla, and apparently of Maximums, whom she had a relationship with. Lucilla sent him away as a young boy fearing for his life after Commodus and Maxiumus' deaths. She's now married to a powerful general by the name of Acacius, who treasures her, and who believes in the future of Rome, even if he sees it in danger due to the twin Emperors who are currently in charge. Acacius invades and conquers the kingdom of Numidia where Hanno has been living with his wife. She perishes in battle, and Hanno is intent on revenge. He is taken as a slave, alongside other survivors. Turns out he's able to fight well enough in the arena, killing some vicious baboons, and catching the eye of Macrinus, who promises him an opportunity to get his revenge, if he wins enough fights in Rome. As Acacius and Lucilla conspire, alongside some senators, to restore the Republic, Macrinus suspects Hanno is more than he says he is. As Hanno/Lucius continues to win fights, his profile and popularity grow, however Macrinus has plans of his own, and he slowly sets them in motion by revealing the plot Lucilla and Acacius have devised, which leaves them in a dangerous situation. Hanno/Lucius has to fight Acacius in the arena, much to Lucilla's horror.
There's plenty of films that have not needed sequels, including Jan De Bont's "Speed 2: Cruise Control" and even Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", and this one can actually be added to that list. "Gladiator" while not a great film per se, is fairly entertaining and a self contained narrative that does not need any offspring. As it turns out, the script for "Gladiator II" feeds off from the events of the first film, to essentially rehash the same plot, but with different characters, who are less convincing and less engaging than the first film. The film is fairly well constructed, since Ridley Scott is a competent film-maker who knows how to devise an environment in which characters exist (he basically knows how to set something up). His biggest issue is always having a well constructed script, one that contains interesting characters who go through an actual arc or journey, characters who are more than a simple cliché or cluster of repetitive storylines we've already seen in many other feature films. "Gladiator II" is sadly not that case: everything that is presented here has already been done, and done better and more convincingly. We don't need to go back to William Wyler's "Ben Hur" or Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus", we only need to go back to Ridley Scott's own "Gladiator" to notice how this narrative of the embattled hero in pursuit of vengeance and how he overcomes tremendous challenges to vanquish his oppressor has already been finely illustrated. "Gladiator II" sadly misses the point, the urgency, and the conviction to ascend to something truly memorable, even if the supporting cast tries their best to bring these limited characters to life. Connie Nielsen, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Derek Jacobi, are all wonderful performers, but are given very little to do, while Paul Mescal is sadly miscast in this role (he lacks the versatility to illustrate the hate, despair, and contempt the character needs to exude). As a side note, this whole glorification of actors working out in order to become buff should probably stop. Going to the gym doesn't necessarily make one a better actor: probably makes one healthier, which is a good thing in the long run, but doesn't necessarily bring conviction where it's needed. The production team is solid, particularly the cinematography by John Mathieson, costume design by Janty Yates, and production design by Arthur Max. It's not unwatchable, it's just unnecessary and unmemorable.
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