Review: Gladiator 2 – Rome if you want to
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen
6.5/10
Director Ridley Scott has produced masterpieces during his career but has also been incredibly inconsistent. He always produces visually stunning fare, but they can be lacking in terms of story and character development. This sees him returning to his 2000 Oscar-winning epic as he delves into the streets of Rome to bring us “strength and honour” once more.
When his home is conquered by Roman invaders, a lone slave, Lucius (Paul Mescal), is offered a chance for revenge. The cunning Macrinus (Denzel Washington) offers him a deal; if he fights in the arena for him, then one day he’ll have the opportunity to avenge himself on the conquering general Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal). However, with Rome under the control of two corrupt emperors, political machinations cast a shadow across the Colloseum.
Typically for Scott, he brings us a stunningly realised world. As a director, he’s one of the best at giving us a sense of place, even if that world has never existed or has been lost in the mists of time. From alien vistas to archaic alleyways, he gives a sense of realism and spectacle to his production design. Gladiator 2 certainly prioritises that spectacle while showcasing the corruption and the squalor that it hides. When it comes to a brutal fight between human combatants, the audience can almost smell the metallic tang of the blood in the air.
That spectacle also comes at a price. Gladiator 2 is as historically accurate as an episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. That’s not a deal-breaker, as the original epic was rife with historical inconsistencies but demonstrated enough of the cultural ideal of ancient Rome to convey its flavour. However, this sequel’s attempt to one-up the original veers into the cartoonish, breaking our suspension of disbelief. Nor is it helped by some occasionally poor CGI as it attempts to bring us rhino riders and shark-infested amphitheatres. The film is generally better when it’s more grounded with its action sequences, with the human combatants giving us some genuine tension.
However, the main issue with Gladiator 2 is that it binds itself to the first film. It constantly lives in the greater film’s shadow, frequently reminding audiences that it’s a pale imitation. Set 16 years later, the plot is essentially a copy of the first film, with a few minor embellishments, until the third act. When it does decide to break away, it does so in a grandiose fashion. Although that’s also the exact same time that the wheels also fall off the chariot in an equally extravagant manner, as it demonstrates the flaws in the script.
That late stage redirect causes the whole film to seem rushed, even at two and a half hours. It’s crammed with numerous convoluted plot elements, but they all seem underdeveloped. Hence character motivations fluctuate wildly and seemingly at random, as nothing is given time to breathe. Mescal is particularly prone to this, in a way that rings more bipolar than conflicted, and he’s our central protagonist. The end result is that the film seems thematically hollow, which is not helped by both the action and drama peaking about half an hour before the final credits roll. After Mescal and Pascal face off against each other, everything else is downhill, and the final battle is one of the weakest conflicts of the film.
The thing is, Gladiator 2 is not a bad movie; it’s just not a particularly great one. This is a perfectly serviceable sword and sandals film, but from a director that’s capable of so much more.
DAVID O’CONNELL