Audiences return to the arena as Ridley Scott’s quarter-century-in-the-making Gladiator II hits theaters. The sequel to the award-winning historical epic from 2000 promises to entertain with its star-studded cast, bloody action scenes, and, perhaps most of all, simple nostalgia. But don’t be fooled. Beyond the handsome faces and well-choreographed fight sequences, Gladiator II serves a pointless story that offers no new insights and fills its 187-minute runtime with a convoluted plot and one-dimensional characters.
Gladiator II continues sixteen years from where the first film left off. It tells the story of Lucius Verus, or “Hanno” (Paul Mescal), the former heir to the Roman empire and illegitimate son of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russel Crowe). We follow Lucius’ journey from slave to gladiator to Prince of Rome – and all the scheming and politics in between.
The sequel makes the bold choice to upend the ending of its first film by eradicating the “dream of Rome” Maximus sacrificed his life to achieve. Tyrant twin emperors (Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn) maintain an oppressive Rome, forcing meaningless expansion of the empire without caring for those within it.
The film provides no context on how these Emperors came to power, or why Maximus’ vision for Rome did not come to be. The only semblance of an explanation is given through a flashback immediately after Maximus’ death, where we see Lucilla (Connie Nielson) forcing her son Lucius to leave Rome out of fear of a power struggle for the throne.
This decision and lack of justification tarnish the first film’s legacy, making Maximus’ death meaningless. Something interesting could be said about how evil reinvents itself in the face of progress, how corruption can spread like a disease, and how a new dictator will simply take the old one’s place, but the film doesn’t give space for these ideas to be fleshed out. It offers a glimpse of what the story could be with Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, but any meaningful insight is lost as the film repackages the narrative structure from the first film right down to the same hopeful ending for a new Rome. Surely it will work this time, right?
Despite the story’s flaws, Scott continues to wear the crown as one of Hollywood’s best action sequence filmmakers. The film’s opening epic battle sequence on the shores of North Africa instantly immerses the audience in the action. As soldiers look directly at the camera, we linger on shots of fire consuming soldiers, and blood spills as if to coat the audience themselves.
Each gladiator combat scene breaks the film’s narrative up, a welcome distraction that keeps the audience entertained. The sequences are vastly different from the first film but equally as gripping and gory (if not more so). The gladiators are forced to fight beastly creatures such as feral monkeys, large rhinoceroses, and blood-thirsty sharks. Each death is explicit and if the viewer is too cowardly to watch, the sound design of flesh being torn apart is sure to haunt them still. The film uses one-on-one combat sparsely, creating a bigger payoff when it does occur and each moment serves to advance the story.
Mescal shines in these action-packed moments; his brute force and unquenchable rage is a terrifying thing to witness. His protagonist differs greatly from Crowe’s in the first film. While Crowe portrayed anger as a quiet thing and his grief fueled him, Mescal is full of bitter hatred. He’s eager to set the world ablaze. His unhinged laughter and distant gaze make even the audience fearful of him.
Unfortunately, this does not make for a great hero, and Mescal is forced to reign in his anger as he transforms into a Maximus-esque character. This aspect of Mescal’s performance falls flat. He’s unable to garner the respect and admiration Crowe could with ease. You simply don’t believe him as a hero, but this is not entirely Mescal’s fault.
His transformation is hindered greatly by the rushed script and lackluster character development. The film consistently emphasizes Lucius’ disgust for the infected empire and the rage within him that“pours out of him like milk.” Without much internal conflict, Lucius does a one-eighty in his beliefs and vows to continue his father’s mission to free Rome. Lucius’ desire to follow in his fallen father’s footsteps could be believable, but the moment does not feel earned.
The most interesting element of the film is the similarities between Mescal’s Lucius and Washington’s Marcinus. Both characters hail from cities colonized by Rome, skin branded as slaves, and find their freedom within the gladiator realm. Their parallel paths divert as Paul’s rage turns to hope and Denzel utilizes his rage to carry him to greatness and power.
Washington is a delight as Marcinus, with a slimy charm that sets him apart from the other power-hungry senators and a grit to his character that comes out as he isn’t afraid to get his hands bloody. He takes center stage for the second act of the film while Lucius is quite literally cast aside in jail waiting for his moment to reenter the narrative.
It is a shame their dynamic isn’t given space to breathe and develop in tandem. When their two conflicting paths come to a head, it feels somewhat lackluster.
As the film enters its final act, it finally offers something different from the first film– it gives power to the Roman citizens. But then, as quickly as the idea appeared, it vanished. The film opts to recreate its predecessors ending with one final showdown. However, unlike the first film, Gladiator II has spent the last few hours proving that any resolution doesn’t matter. Maximus’ defeat of Emperor Commodus did not lead to a free Rome, how will this be any different? The story’s ending simply feels meaningless.
Gladiator II fails to offer anything new to the story it beautifully wove twenty-four years ago. It’s weighed down by too many plot directions and rushed character transformations, none of which ever seem to amount to anything meaningful. Audiences may be entertained, but don’t expect much else.
Review Courtesy of Kamryn Ryan
Feature Image Credit to Paramount Pictures via IMDb