Rating: 8/10
What makes a good sequel? This question has been on the moviegoing mind as the decade’s trend of “legacy sequels” has come to prominence, ranging from the delightful “Twisters” to the remarkably middling “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
The Hollywood IP grave robbers come for all sooner or later, but a worthy sequel to Ridley Scott’s 2000 sword-and-sandal epic seems a tremendous, if not impossible, task.
Following in the footsteps of a quintuple Oscar winner would be daunting to even the boldest directors, but it’s oddly poetic to have Scott back behind the camera. While “Gladiator II” may lack the thematic edge or revelatory leads of its predecessor, the film is an undeniable return to form, with the Colosseum’s happenings back on full, wicked display.
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Stepping into the inevitably too-big shoes of “Gladiator’s” Maximus is Paul Mescal’s Hanno, who viewers will later know as Lucius. Framed by a trademark Hollywood workout routine, Mescal plays Lucius with all the trappings of the stoic action hero. However, his more subdued acting tendencies clash with the white-hot rage that Lucius is meant to embody.
Mescal is a talented performer with a well-earned following, but shades of “Aftersun’s” melancholic father or “Normal People’s” affable boyfriend are hard to separate from the role.
Lucius is the foil to Pedro Pascal’s Acacius, a semi-stock Roman general with a mildly underwritten character made much more palatable by Pascal’s heartthrob gravitas. Acacius’ role could be compared to Joaquin Phoenix’s role in the original, but the “unstable emperor” archetype is split into two, with Joseph Quinn’s Geta and Fred Hechinger’s Caracalla.
The twin emperors are brought to life with all the theatrics and hedonics expected from a role like theirs, but Quinn and Hechinger tackle the freakish brothers with gleeful lunacy.
Rounding out the cast is Connie Nielsen’s Lucilla, the only major character to return from “Gladiator.” Nielsen plays Lucilla with the same poise and vulnerability as her first appearance.
There’s plenty of entertainment to be drawn from the tangled web of soldiers and senators that “Gladiator II” offers. Chief among any of these figures — and arguably the film’s defining character — is Denzel Washington’s Macrinus.
The arms dealer-turned-gladiator handler-turned-bisexual scene stealer is the focus of just about every shot he’s in, and for good reason. Played with a fantastic swing between an underhanded power player and a grounding audience surrogate, Macrinus is inextricable from the movie’s more politically charged aspects.
Aiming for the throne after a long climb up the ladders of power, Washington’s former slave character is a prime example of what “Gladiator II” has to offer — that being a previously unseen narrative angle.
“Gladiator’s” effectiveness lies in its simplicity, but “Gladiator II” takes on a whole new division of B-plots and C-plots, to varying degrees of success. The exploits of Macrinus and the twin emperors are engrossing to no end, but “Gladiator II” is tied down by its obligations to the first film, with the mandatory flashbacks and callbacks only serving to diminish momentum.
The good news is that the momentum is hardly lost for long, as Scott and returning cinematographer John Mathieson budget plenty of time for the real gladiatorial work.
While “Gladiator” was somewhat bound by the VFX restraints of the time, such problems are long gone by “Gladiator II,” as the Colosseum’s potential is only defined by Scott’s willingness to push the limit on reasonable disbelief. A memorable set piece chronicles a mock naval battle inside a flooded arena, with inexplicably present sharks snapping up legionnaires like fishflakes.
However odd and over-the-top these expanded horizons may seem, they’re unquestionably the appeal of “Gladiator II,” as cast and crew are allowed and encouraged to riff on the genre staples that made the original film so iconic.
“Gladiator II” doesn’t strike the same chord as its legendary predecessor, but it’s not trying to. A roundtable’s worth of memorable performances and a series of bigger and bigger cinematic swings make “Gladiator II” a worthwhile film and a good sequel.
