REVIEW:
Twenty four years after the original Gladiator movie, they have finally made a sequel. Now in a lot of nostalgia cases, that age gap is not such a big deal. When they take movies from the eighties and make a sequel now (Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, Top Gun,) it’s all well and good. And that’s because the eighties movies are so long ago, that we never thought a sequel was possible. So getting this follow up film decades later is just gravy. But in the case of Gladiator, it’s a little different.
Gladiator was released in the year 2000. It was such a massive success story, and such a great movie that we all clamored for a sequel. And it never came. That’s because Russell Crowe wanted to be a part of it, or they wanted him to be a part of it (or both,) and they just couldn’t figure it out. So now, all this time later, a sequel finally has been released, but fans aren’t as excited about it as they would have been. We are now in a time where action in movies is usually pretty lousy and all computer effects driven. Unless we’re taking about John Wick, action movies these days are a tough sell.
And that brings us to the actual movie, Gladiator 2. The good news is Director Ridley Scott is back. And he’s a master at this kind of battle epic film. The other good news is that this movie really does act like a sequel as much as it can. There are tons of references and even clips and flashes of Maximus, our hero from the first movie (Crowe.) it really is the best they can do, in this department, without actually bringing him back.
In fact, what works about the movie snd makes it worthwhile isn’t so much the action, as much as it is the story. Specifically the way they tie this movie into the first one as a continuation of the characters’ story. And that’s something we would not expect. They certainly hid it from the trailers. Without giving anything away, a major character is brought back to fill a big role in the story, and it is the through line that connects everything together. All of a sudden, the Connie Nelson character from the first movie (for example,) now has a major part.
On top of that surprise, another major one involves the villain of the movie, who really emerges as the film goes on. It’s a nice, unexpected development. And between that and the character reveal, plus the action, there’s plenty here to keep our attention. As far as the action goes, they certainly up the ante on the animal attacks. The first movie featured one scene with a tiger. In this sequel, we get vicious baboons, a man riding a rhino, and then a ship battle inside the arena with sharks swimming around in the water. It’s a lot. And it in no way compares with the action of the first film, which was more grounded and real. Buy you have to hand it to them fit trying.
The movie, overall, is pretty good. Denzel Washington is featured here in a role that he handles well. Pedro Pascal, the guy who seems to be in everything these days, is also on board. And while the lead actor of the movie, Paul Mescal, is pretty underwhelming, he’s surrounded by enough star power to make up for it. There’s a lot that works about this movie, including the twin Emperors, who are certainly interesting, and their blood-thirsty crazy kind of way. There’s nothing in this movie that is great, but there’s a lot that is pretty good.