The opening credits of Gladiator II summarize the major plot points and some memorable imagery from the first Gladiator – it’s been nearly a quarter-century, after all – with tastefully minimal, moving-painting-style animation. In other words, it looks a bit like the original Gladiator is taking place within the moving-painting logo of Scott Free, director Ridley Scott’s production company. That 2000 Oscar-winner kicked off a new phase in Scott’s career after a decade of mostly misses; presumably reinvigorated by the experience (and buoyed by the movie’s commercial, critical, and awards success), Scott went on to average around a movie a year for the 2000s and would maintain a similar pace afterwards, hopscotching around genres with impunity. Now he returns to Gladiator while clearly in the midst of a filmmaking tear where he does what he wants, when he wants (which usually means “a lot” and “extremely fast”). Doubtless some executives have been salivating for a Gladiator sequel; even less doubt that it exists as a holiday-season spectacular in 2024 because Ridley Scott really wanted to make it. Basically, the movie is taking place within that Scott Free logo.
Befitting Scott’s fusion of auteur surehandedness and journeyman churn, the deeper reasons for Gladiator II’s existence may not emerge in a single viewing, and the movie – while sufficiently entertaining – does not exactly beg for a revisitation to investigate further. It picks up the story thread of Lucius, the tweenage son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), ex-flame of Russell Crowe’s Maximus, from the first film. Lucius has grown into a warrior in his own right, now played by Paul Mescal, and first seen defending Numidia, on the North African coast, from invading Romans led by Marcus (Pedro Pascal). Lucius fights alongside his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen) and if that sounds like a nice change-up from the women-and-children peril of the first movie, well, wait a few minutes. After all, something has to happen to enslave Lucius, put him in the Coliseum to fight for his life, and prompt him to swear revenge against some enemies.
Yes, the broad outline of Gladiator II is basically: What if something kinda similar to Gladiator happened again, but somewhat later? There’s a big battle, a defeat, a bunch of palace intrigue, some arena set pieces, further intrigue, and a final confrontation. The difference-maker here – the reason it actually feels like a worthwhile sequel rather a crude reiteration – is Denzel Washington as Macrinus, a character whose own scheming agenda doesn’t have a precise parallel in the first movie, and remains gratifyingly opaque through at least part of this one. Macrinus is a former slave and sort of a second-century fight promoter; he gets ahold of Lucius and arranges battles for his own gain, with an eye on brothers Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), the co-emperors of a declining Rome.
Washington savors his dialogue; no matter the actual flavor of the writing, he seems determined to make it taste and sound as Shakespearean as possible, with just a touch of Christopher Walken pause-hamming. His every gesture and intonation is an absolute joy; he’s somehow the most precise actor in the movie and the loosest, freest, movie-starriest presence on screen, all at once. He creates a bizarre irony for Mescal, who should be faced with the daunting prospect of de-facto replacing Russell Crowe and instead has to compete with a very different presence, sometimes right across from him (although frankly, better to have a megastar as a scene partner than a looming memory). Mescal is a wonderful actor, perhaps not best used as battlefield powerhouse; he’s physically convincing enough, but frequently looks as if he’s about to break into incongruous laughter or more understandable tears during his dialogue scenes. This does not yield the same surprising emotional kick as Crowe’s ongoing stoicism in the first film.
Really, though, and especially in the scenes without Washington, this is Scott’s movie, with all of the professionalism and efficiency that implies. The battle sequences, most notably an elaborate circus wherein the Coliseum is filled with water so that the gladiators can endure naval clashes in shark-filled fake seas, are impressively mounted, with well-integrated visual effects and all of the big-money pomp you’d expect from an ante-upping sequel. But is Scott all that great of an action director in terms of evoking emotion through motion, characterization through choreography, cutting together a miniature narrative from all that spectacle? Not really. As with last year’s Napoleon, the gory grandeur of the battles often feel detached from the story unfolding in between them – especially so here, where Washington’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering is more interesting than what little we learn about the gladiators. The first movie, sometimes ponderous in its own right, was a throwback to an earlier age of sword-and-sandal epics, with Crowe updating the masculine warrior archetype with turn-of-the-new-century sensitivity. Gladiator II is throwing back to that turn, and never finds a character to truly push forward – not even Macrinus, whose contradictions and complications disappear whenever Washington isn’t on screen. Enjoyable as it is, Scott’s movie is adrift in a closed system, a massive warship floating around a coliseum.
Director: Ridley Scott
Writers: Peter Craig and David Scarpa
Starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger
Release date: November 22, 2024
Jesse Hassenger is associate movies editor at Paste. He also writes about movies and other pop-culture stuff for a bunch of outlets including A.V. Club, GQ, Decider, the Daily Beast, and SportsAlcohol.com, where offerings include an informal podcast. He also co-hosts the New Flesh, a podcast about horror movies, and wastes time on Twitter under the handle @rockmarooned.