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Gladiator II is a film that I never thought would happen. Its’ predecessor, from director Ridley Scott, is one of my favorite films in the last decade. When I heard that this film was in production and being released, I was ecstatic. Picking up years later after Marcus Aurellius’s death, it follows our protagonist Lucius Verus Aurelius (Paul Mescal). Lucius is going by a nickname named “Hanno.” In the beginning, it seems that Lucius has a very laxed life, and is in love with his wife Arishat(Yuval Gonen). In my honest opinion, that was the most interesting part to Mescal’s performance. I was waiting to get more layers to Lucius, and it just never came.
In this time period, everything is being run by twin emperors, Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) . There is a story about how they came into power, and that story I found very interesting. In the arena, of course there has to be gladiator fights. In the movie we got to see a lot of people go through the arena. General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) is one particular character who married Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). Lucilla previously was involved with Maximus from the original Gladiator. I liked that General Acacius wanted to change the narrative of Rome. He had his own process of looking to have a “new Rome.” Lucilla seemed moved on from Maximus, and it seemed that she had a different relationship with General Acacius.
One person who gave an amazing performance, and really was an appeal to the movie overall. Macrinus (Denzel Washington) often repeats the word of power, and revenge throughout the film. The way that Denzel stretches his acting ability, to give Macrinus a motive to why he does the things he does. Macrimus explains where his origins come from, and I was captivated by Washington’s performance. Besides him and one of the twin’s (particularly Quinn) performance, I was quite disappointed. All of the action sequences were great, but I was hoping to see more heart and amazing performances from all the cast. Including Lucius, who I felt got buried beneath Washington’s ability, to carry the film.
In terms of overall how I felt about the film, it was okay. I was hoping that Gladiator II would be able to stand on its own. Sequels are often hard to do, and I understand that. If it’s with the same director, Ridley Scott, it should’ve been a hit. I’m hoping that Paul Mescal is able to go somewhere else to stretch his acting abilities.
I would give this movie a 3.5/5.
