On November 22nd, the highly anticipated sequel, Gladiator II, was released domestically in theaters. The movie, filmed between June of 2022 and January of 2024, was delayed 5 months due to Hollywood labor strikes. The movie, directed by Ridley Scott, stars Paul Mescal as the main character Lucius, along with supporting actors Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal.
The movie had a solid opening weekend, grossing $55.5 million domestically, and $87 million internationally when the movie debuted a week earlier. As of December 10th, the movie has grossed $370 million globally.
Gladiator II faces many criticisms, especially when comparing it to its predecessor. While it is certainly a fun movie to watch, it ultimately falls short of expectations. The plot line was enjoyable but too similar to the first movie. The script writing was nothing to complain about, but very few scenes captured similar levels of emotions that the dialogue in the original had.
Another lowlight was the character development. Given the mysterious nature of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), they missed a massive opportunity to develop deeper into his backstory and rise from slavery to power. Lucius had slightly better development, with occasional flashback scenes that give us insight into his childhood and story. Still, the scenes felt dry and never created an emotional connection between the viewer and Lucius that the first movie managed to do so well.
Some of the positives shine in the acting and cinematography, largely in part due to Denzel Washington’s incredible performance, which landed him a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Washington’s character was portrayed perfectly, a mysterious and dangerous man, who clearly has ulterior motives that remain unknown till near the end. The character’s few flaws come not as a result of Washington’s acting, but the script writing. The cinematography was generally above average, apart from the overdone CGI. The fight scenes were well-paced and frequent but often didn’t invoke that uneasy anxiousness that good fights do.
Overall, I would give the movie a 6.6/10, especially given the expectations set by the original. The biggest flaw is the poor character development which explains the lack of depth and emotion in the fight scenes and dialogue. Regardless of that, I do think the movie is 100% worth a watch as long as you don’t mind the two-and-a-half-hour watch time. Again, it pales in comparison to the first movie but is still an extremely enjoyable watch and something you should see if you haven’t already.
