Gladiator II

There's a lot to enjoy in this sequel to Sir Ridders' original from 2000. The film picks up about 16 years after the end of the first one, where we find Rome ruled by a pair of foppish twats, Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). Tasked to expand the empire, General Acacias (Pedro Pascal) leads an attack on Numidia in North Africa, coming up against Paul Mescal's Verus. 

Once this speccy set piece is over, now-widower Verus finds himself on route to the fighting stadia, where he catches the eye of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a kind of antiquity Don King. Verus is driven by rage, hungry for revenge on those who killed his wife, but there seems to be more to his story. And those familiar with the original (or anyone who's read anything online about this film) will probably know what, but I'm not about to drop the cat bag.

It's beautifully shot by lenser supremo, John Mathieson, especially one silvery sequence near the start where Deaths arrive on a raft to a tornado-filled backdrop. The whole film has a visual edge over it's progenitor, technology and all that, but they occasionally feel like the same film (the bits in the Colosseum, mostly).

There are nods to Spartacus, Game of Thrones (somebody in hiding over the 'narrow' sea; Pascal and the Hound, Rory McCann, on board; whispering spies in stately houses) and, most obviously, Gladiator itself. For the most part, this is a good way of linking the stories and reminding us of the built (pseudo-historical) world. What it brings into sharp relief is that Mescal is no Russell Crowe. He's a very good indie actor but asking him to replicate Crowe's intensity and charisma is a bridge too far. This may sound facile but there's one scene where we see Mescal's hands in close-up, just before we snap to the famous flashback of Crowe's left hand brushing through wheat fields. Mescal's slender paws don't hold a candle to Crowe's meat hooks. 

The set-piece battles are what many people are in their seats for. From a crazed monkey bloodbath, to a dusty rhino scrap, to a flooded Colosseum sea battle, complete with hungry sharks for those tipped into the water, the 'mob' (and the cinema audience) are fully entertained. The politics from the first film, stemming from Marcus Aurelius' desire to hand Rome back to the senate, is promised once more - but do the main players have enough power or motivation to help? As mentioned, Verus wants vengeance, and the intentions of his slave master/fight promoter, Macrinus are not too clear at all. Returning characters Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and Gracchus (Derek Jacobi) give weight to the machinations and add heft to proceedings - they're both on form and slot right back in to the Roman milieu.

The cast is stacked. Aside from those noted above, there are guernseys for Lord Percy/Captain Darling himself, Tim McInnerny, and Matt Lucas, but it's Washington who takes the plaudits, I'd say. Yes, he does his signature move of eating something on screen, but his calculating eyes and pause-filled delivery are a delight. He gets some great lines too, for example, when counselling the Emperors, "Crucifixion is only for thieves and Christians, the rabble. Let the gods decide." Pascal is always watchable but his Acacias is too noble here, I'd have liked more edge to him. 

There are loads of bombastic proclamations, quotes from Virgil, stirring, encouraging speeches - in short, pretentious piffle, but it all holds to the epic genre. In fact, it's a pretty old fashioned film in its aims. The slow points are few and far between and the direction is up to Scott's usual excellent standards. You won't find anything fresh here but it's certainly bags of fun.

Gladiator II opens around Australia Nov 14th.

See also:

A slightly better recent effort from Sir Ridders, The Last Duel (2021) and Mescal is perfectly cast in Charlotte Wells' Aftersun (2022).