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Movie Review: Gladiator II

Mike Tyrkus

Arriving over two decades after the original film, director Ridley Scott’s latest endeavor, Gladiator II, echoes the story and breadth of the first chapter, but is ultimately a hollow experience devoid of originality or anything other than a mildly disguised reworking of the first film.

The film begins as Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to watch as Romans, led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), invade his homeland and slaughter many of his people – including his beloved wife – before taking the survivors back to Rome to fight in the Colosseum. There, Lucius becomes one of the prize warriors owned by Macrinus (Denzel Washington) and is told that he will be granted revenge upon Acacius if he does as Macrinus bids and becomes a champion. Of course, Macrinus has put other plans in motion to improve his own station and as always happens, treachery begets treachery.

Coming a year after the far superior Napoleon, Scott’s return to the world of “Gladiator” – like his return to the world of “Alien” with Prometheus (2012) and Alien: Covenant (2017) – suggest that perhaps some franchises are best left alone. Missing here are the strong visuals that have adorned most of Scott’s best work as well as the often subversive subtext that even his lesser work plays with to perfection. What is left is simply a sequel – nothing more, nothing less.

The screenplay, written by David Scarpa – who also worked with Scott on the aforementioned Napoleon – also appears content to regurgitate the formula of the first film without trying to introduce any new variables to the equation, other than setting the it decades later so that a fair amount of people seem to have forgotten the events portrayed therein.

Paul Mescal in “Gladiator II.” Photo by Aidan Monaghan/Aidan Monaghan – © 2024 Paramount Pictures.

Although he does an admirable job as the hero Lucius, Mescal is saddled with basically rehashing the character that Russell Crowe played twenty-four years earlier. Even returning players such as Connie Nielsen (Lucilla) and Derek Jacobi (Gracchus) feel shoehorned into the film for the sole purpose of making it a legitimate sequel and not simply a remake. Perhaps the biggest disappointment though is how little Pedro Pascal is utilized at the heart of the film. Even though affording his character a larger role would have certainly elongated an already bloated running time, it certainly could not have hurt the emotional weight of the story.

Despite some impressive visuals during the film’s battles scenes, Gladiator II is unfortunately little more than a tired retread of an earlier, and far more entertaining film.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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