Gladiator II (2024) Review

Gladiator II (2024)
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriters: David Scarpa, Peter Craig
Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi, Tim McInnerny, Lior Raz, Alexander Karim, Rory McCann, Alec Utgoff, Matt Lucas, Peter Mensah, Yuval Gonen

24 years ago, Ridley Scott released his momentous historical epic Gladiator. It went on to win five Oscars, including Best Actor and Best Picture. Despite the massive impact that it had on popular culture, including kick-starting another cycle of Sword and Sandals movies such as Troy (2004), a sequel has found itself stuck in development hell for two decades, while Scott has remained prolific on projects both similar and very different. Now, finally, we return to this world of epic battles, brutal arena combat, and a corrupt empire on the brink of collapse. 

It is 200 A.D., two decades after general-turned-gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius gave his life to put down an evil emperor in the Colosseum. The Prince of Rome, Lucius (Paul Mescal), lives a peaceful life in exile with his wife (Yuval Gonen) in North Africa. But the Roman Empire’s lust for conquest is far from sated, and before long an army under General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) has conquered Numidia and enslaved Lucius and his companions to serve as gladiators, bringing them into conflict with the mad twin emperors Geta and Caracalla (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger) and the ambitious arms dealer Macrinus (Denzel Washington), while the latter plots his path to ultimate power.

Ridley Scott has made it clear to journalists on several occasions exactly how little he cares about historical accuracy in his historical films, so if he didn’t bat an eye at Napoleon firing cannons at the pyramids he wasn’t going to lose sleep over miraculously transporting man-eating sharks into a Roman amphitheatre. Much like the first Gladiator, some key events from this period of history are depicted in broad strokes, but only as a starting point for telling an original story. For instance, the real brother emperors Geta and Caracalla did briefly and chaotically rule together – they really did flood the Colosseum to stage naval battles (sans sharks) – and most of the supporting characters are named in reference to real historical figures whose real lives and times are exaggerated, but everything else is in the service of what the story requires, historical accuracy be damned.

There are big, muscular action scenes staged on a scale few filmmakers but Ridley Scott can offer. He may rely more than he used to on not-always-perfect CGI to enhance these ambitious sequences, but every battle is meticulously constructed from a mountain of footage captured in his preferred multi-camera filming style. And every one of them – from the explosive opening coastal siege to the dicey encounters with vicious baboons and angry rhinos in the arena, to the very personal one-on-one fights – serves to build character and emphasise what they are fighting for.

Mescal’s Lucius might not be as instantly iconic as Russell Crowe’s Maximus, but he handles himself well in the fight scenes, has effortless leading man charisma, and even manages to leave his mark when sharing the screen with far more colourful performances from the likes of Quinn (mad), Hechinger (madder) and Washington (flamboyant and terrifying).

We were well overdue a reminder of how well Denzel Washington inhabits complex villains; men who use their guile and magnetism to get what they want at any cost. A returning Connie Nielsen as Lucius’ estranged mother Lucilla isn’t given the most to do with a recycled plotline involving secretly plotting another insurrection with senators including Derek Jacobi’s Gracchus, but Pedro Pascal really delivers as the target of Lucius’ vengeance who is nonetheless a highly moral man doing his duty very much in the Maximus mold.

Where the original film’s gladiator training scenes were set in the dusty, far-flung Roman provinces, the stable Lucius finds himself part of is in the heart of the capital and is well-resourced to provide the hedonistic rich classes with the highest quality blood-soaked entertainment, whether elaborate spectaculars seen from the safe distance of their arena seating or thrillingly but uncomfortably up close and thus causing collateral property damage at a senator’s lavish party.

The film is more successful in fleshing out the dirty, corrupt Ancient Roman world and telling a new story of men trying to rise to the top and stay there than it is looking back and trying to make links to the original film. The backgrounds of the scenes in the homes of Roman high society are packed with references to their waste, their debauchery, and their dismissal of the lower classes, which is about the closest the film comes to making a political statement.

Because recent legacy sequels tend to echo what worked in Top Gun: Maverick (2022), so does Gladiator II. Of course we have a scene fawning over the iconography from the earlier movie, and this sequel ties itself in knots trying to make the sometimes tenuous continuity match up. The opening titles that recap the main events of Gladiator in a similar animation style to Ridley Scott’s own Scott Free studio logo would have been more than enough to bring anyone up to speed.

Some might be disappointed to learn than Hans Zimmer has not returned to compose the score for this one, his layered and highly emotive compositions being a big part of the original film’s soulfulness. Fear not though, for Scott’s other regular composer Harry Gregson-Williams (Kingdom of Heaven, The Martian) is on hand and does a fine job in maintaining tonal continuity, amping up the action and dropping in choice Zimmer excerpts at just the right moments.

Gladiator II serves up some real spectacle, particularly for audiences craving something other than superhero clashes and car chases. It’s not an especially deep movie, and the script perhaps could have done with a polish here and there, but the story has real momentum and the combination of committed performances, rich production design and the sheer variety of creative brutality on show keeps you rooted in this heightened historical world. Another visit to the Colosseum in the near future would be welcome indeed, for we are entertained.

Score: 19/24

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