Ridley Scott is back XXV years later for a sequel to one of his biggest films ever. But will it get a thumbs up, or thumbs down?
How much you’re likely to enjoy ‘Gladiator II’, director Ridley Scott’s belated return to ancient Rome, depends a great deal on your expectations. If you’re hoping for the kind of form displayed by the first movie back in 2000 then I’d advise you not to bother, and probably spend a couple of minutes of your life doing something more productive than reading this review. Cards on the table, it’s nowhere near as good. If, however, you’re happy to temper your expectations and simply want to be entertained for an evening then there’s a lot to like about this bold, brash, bloated yet frankly unnecessary sequel.
Fronted by the annoyingly handsome and increasingly prolific Paul Mescal as the mysterious Lucius, ‘Gladiator II’ sees our hero descend upon the capital in a bid to overthrow the frankly insane emperor duo of Geta (Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger, who many might recognise from White Lotus). While also aiming to retrieve the head of General Acacius (Hollywood’s hardest working man Pedro Pascal) who is responsible for the invasion that cost the life of, among many others, Lucius’ partner. The most logical way of achieving these goals, as we all know, is for Lucius to ascend his way through the ranks of combatants upon the floor of the Colosseum, giving St John’s Ambulance a right old headache as he goes.
If that setup sounds less than startling then it is. I’m not a believer in the saying “There’s nothing new under the sun,” but I strongly suspect Ridley Scott and his screenwriters Peter Craig and David Scarpa are, as a good 50% of Gladiator II is really a re-tread of the first movie. Where things differ are in the cast of characters (though some such as Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla do return), and the element of a mystery as to the origins of Lucius, his relationship to certain characters, and the conundrums these present later in the movie. I use the word “mystery” with reservation as it’s about as cryptic as a Chat! magazine word search, but points for trying to inject some sub-plot, I guess.
Paul Mescal is generally okay in buffed-up form, though fans who’ve followed him to Gladiator from his performances in ‘Normal People’ and subsequent works may find themselves a little disappointed by the less demanding “brooding mystery man” routine, the product of a script that doesn’t give him much to do bar occasionally getting angry then lopping someone’s head off. Nielsen and Pascal fare a little better, though again the material is hardly stretching their obvious credentials; Pascal at least finds himself serving as an emotional fulcrum in the latter stages, but future film scholars will not cite this as one of his more memorable roles
Someone who is having a lot of fun, however, is one Mr Denzel Washington Esquire, whose performance as the devious Macrinus is equal parts Oliver Reed from the first movie and the political skulduggery of Dominic Cummings. Washington might be the only one on set who has both the true measure of the material and the clout to demand he have a good time, having a whale of a time with a barrage of sly looks and occasional camp. Thank goodness for him, I say, as he’s almost worth the price of admission on his own.
There’s still a lot else to like, with returning Director of Photography John Mathieson again composing scenes that let the viewer practically taste the blood and sand, and a bombastic Harry Gregson-Williams doing a decent homage to Hans Zimmer with the score. Crucially, the fights and battle scenes, which are why most of us are here, are pretty decent, with rhinos and sharks (you read that right) providing wonderfully inventive brutality along the way. An audience now attuned to ‘Squid Game’ and other mainstream bloodlettings might not find things so visceral as we did the first time around, but it’s diverting enough.
Ultimately I’m not sure why Ridley Scott felt compelled to return to this setting with this particular story at the admirable age of 87, certainly without anything resembling a compelling or original reason to do so. I do however know that few directors have the vision, technical skill and/or access to production budget in order to pull this kind of thing off convincingly, so more power to him for raging against the dying of the light.
If I had one piece of advice to give it would be to try and watch this on the biggest screen and the loudest sound system, preferably Dolby Atmos, that you have access to. If it’s perhaps time for an upgrade then your local branch of Richer Sounds will arrange a cinema room demo for you, and if you’re passing by the pick ‘n’ mix I’ll have fizzy cola bottles and some chocolate jazzies, thanks.
Author: Ewan, Chester Store
