As the lights went down on the screening of Gladiator II I attended, I suddenly realized that I didn’t quite remember everything that happened in the film. I knew that I really liked it but it was the details, the details that I didn’t remember. But that was quickly alleviated once the original score by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard echoed throughout the theater. It also helped a good portion of the characters reference the now legend of Maximus (Russel Crowe).
Set 16 years after the original film, Rome hasn’t fared any better since Maximus died. In fact, it seems quite worse. It’s now ruled by a pair of incompetent and petulant brothers, Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) whose allegiance to members of their cabinet change day by day. Meanwhile, Macrinus (an oh so slick and fantastic Denzel Washington), a man who makes his living by purchasing slaves and turning them into gladiators, has just found a new one in Lucius (Paul Mescal). Lucius agrees to fight for him on one condition: he gets to kill the Roman general who killed his wife, Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal).
With that, begins the gladiator battles! The Carnage! The mayhem!
As always, director Ridley Scott’s staging of fights and battles is miles above anyone else. Even though his last film Napoleon was one of his worst, the battle scenes were its only saving grace. And here, those scenes are just another savory layer on top of the terrific cake he and writer Peter Craig and cinematographer John Mathieson have cooked up.
Mescal plays it a bit low-key here and it definitely works. Lucius is pensive and plotting and it feels like he’s always one step ahead of everybody else. And his friendship with Ravi (a wonderful Alexander Karim), a former gladiator and now a free man who serves as a doctor to the wounded gladiators, only helps him to be more of a fully rounded character.
Pascal’s Acacius has him in a moral dilemma: does he continue doing the brothers emperor’s bidding or trying to take matters into his own hand and to try and free Rome? With his wife Lucilla, a returning Connie Nielsen, by his side, it’s not that hard of a choice.
As the Emperors, Quinn and Hechinger, could have easily chewed some scenery their characters more make the scenery blend into them. They’re equal parts clown and devil, with either one able to fly off the handle on a whim.
But it’s Washington who is the most impressive. Macrinus is pulling all the strings and you can just tell that Washington is having a blast. It reminded me of his part in Training Day, where he was just eating up every line of dialogue and savoring it as it was coming out of his mouth. He does the same here and then some.
The film is widely entertaining and yes, violent, and it’s an absolutely worthy sequel.
