As a child, Lucius fled the Roman Empire and settled somewhere in North Africa. 16 years later, he lives the life of an ordinary farmer with his beloved lady. The idyll is destroyed by General Marcus Acacia, who received the murderous orders to capture the peaceful settlement. Acacia's legion takes the territory by storm. Invading the city, his soldiers kill Lucius' wife, and he himself is captured and taken to Rome. There, he becomes the property of Macrinus, an ex-slave who now heads a gladiator school. Obsessed with revenge, Lucius defeats one opponent after another and, of course, ends up in the arena of the Colosseum.
A quarter of a century ago, Gladiator became a worldwide sensation, grossing half a billion dollars worldwide and winning an Oscar for Best Picture. Ridley Scott's monumental action film revived a forgotten peplum genre and became, perhaps, the greatest triumph in the director’s career. Although Scott is already 87, the director still films tirelessly, releasing one film a year. As before, his successful movies are followed by colossal failures — both artistic and financial. Last year's Napoleon was a box office flop and was destroyed by critics who accused Scott of historic inaccuracies.
Similar claims were made against the original Gladiator back in 2000, but at least there was a coherent story — while the biopic about the French emperor fell apart into inconsistent fragments. It’s no wonder that critics were so skeptical about returning to the Roman Empire. The situation was made even worse by the fact that the script for the second Gladiator was written by David Scarpa, the man responsible for the lackluster Napoleon. In addition, the production of the sequel was accompanied by colossal difficulties. Filming began in 2023, but was soon interrupted for four months due to the strike of the US Screen Actors Guild. During one of the shifts, stuntmen suffered serious burns, and PETA, having visited the set, accused Scott’s team of animal cruelty. Ultimately, the budget grew to $250 million, which is why skeptics predicted Scott to have another box office failure.
As for the film itself, its weakest part is the script. Scarpa simply rewrote the original in a new way, multiplying the positive moments and the number of fights. Fortunately, Scott still directs action like no one else in Hollywood. In the original movie gladiators were facing other human beings — now they are confronted by predatory baboons and giant sharks, and in one of the scenes the hero’s fighting a rhinoceros. Spectacular battles continuously follow one another, allowing you to forget about any of the script's mistakes.
Maximus is literally split in two for the sequel. One part is the gladiator Lucius (Paul Mescal), thirsty for revenge, and another is the brave general Acacia (Pedro Pascal), tired of wars and dreaming of a coup d'etat. There are also two villains now. Fred Heckinger from White Lotus and Joseph Quinn from Stranger Things portray pretty much the same character as Joaquin Phoenix did in the first part. And they do it more than organically. But it’s Denzel Washington who’s really stealing the show this time — a big Hollywood actor who selflessly fools around in the role of a trickster merchant. Meanwhile, Connie Nielsen, who once again dropped by the all-male party, somehow connects the original movie and the sequel with her presence.
Gladiator 2 is a secondary, absolutely unnecessary, but spectacular blockbuster. The panoramas of Ancient Rome are mesmerizing, the battle scenes are astounding in their scale, and the blood flows like a river for the entire two and a half hours. Meanwhile, the kitsch aesthetics remind us that this is not a high-brow historical film, but a colorful Hollywood show. The film does not bring anything new to the genre and will definitely not become a modern classic. However, this redundant action movie is definitely suitable for a one-time viewing. At the very least, it is so damn fun.
