Naysayers need be put in their boxes for unfair comparison with Gladiator made 24 years ago.
“Paul Mescal isn’t Russell Crowe,” they say, “so this sequel isn’t as good.”
Of course Paul Mescal isn’t Russell Crowe.
He isn’t Maximus either. Mescal is a completely different character, Lucius.
Remember the boy who spoke with Maximus shortly before Maximus died after killing Commodus in the arena?
Lucius, grandson of Marcus Aurelius and nephew of Commodus, was sent to Numidia in northern Africa by his mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, the only cast member from Gladiator to return for the sequel) to shield him from the violent chaos and corruption of Rome and its seedy, youthful emperors, brothers Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger, who played the grandson in Thelma).
Now, some 20 years later, Lucius has grown up and knows how to fight.
It’s in his genes. He’s the son of Maximus and Lucilla. Irish actor Mescal makes no inroad to the swagger of Crowe’s Maximus; he sees himself as undemonstrative, as nothing special.
General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), an antagonistic figure, invades Numidia and orders killing Lucius’ wife, an expert archer (Yuval Gonen). Acacius takes Lucius prisoner and sells him into slavery, purchased by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), and forced into gladiatorial combat in the Colosseum where he swears revenge against the General.
Washington’s Macrinus chews scenery, delights in smiling and scheming; he served in Maximus’ army, was a former slave, and has ambitions to rise all the way to the top.
Ridley Scott worked previously with Washington on American Gangster in 2007 in Harlem.
Then Washington asked Scott, “You sure you know what you’re doing?” Assured by the response, the two got along just fine.
Director Ridley Scott continues his ancient Roman saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance and, at 87, a first-time feat handling a sequel to his own Gladiator.
He was never allowed to direct sequels to Alien or Blade Runner because, “I had tough partners. It was a kind of ‘Welcome to Hollywood’.” Scott was in his 40s at the time and entered filmmaking with a good show reel of his television commercials.
Ridley Scott considers this sandal-and-toga sequel his best film in years.
Telling his actors what’s going to happen in the day’s shoot, eight to eleven cameras are employed.
There’s a mixture of solemnity and subtle elegance within dialogue sequences which act as a cover for the garish violence in the arena.
Scott spares no audience the thrill or disgust of blood spilled via sword, trident, lance, fist, rhinoceros, or shark.
Sets were real. The Colosseum was constructed at Fort Riscoli in Malta, the 17th century building that served as the site for the CGI Colosseum in Gladiator.
Massive sets included an entire Roman city in Malta and ships in a flooded Colosseum for a re-creation of a sea battle introduced by the Arena Master of Ceremonies (an almost unrecognisable Matt Lucas).
Sharks in the water? Riding a rhinoceros? All Scott’s imagination as there’s no historical proof. Should we care? Hollywood’s been getting away with this flummery since Italy made cinema’s first ancient Roman epic, Cabiria (1914).
In Morocco a massive warship was built in the desert for an early sequence of a North African invasion.
Visual effects and CGI still play a large role in the film, especially in wide shots and sequences involving animals like the rhino, sharks, and vicious teeth-baring, flesh-shredding baboons.
Historically inaccurate, it’s what Hollywood once did; its own versions of ancient history in epic proportion, most popular in the late 1950s and ’60s as road show, buy tickets in advance, big screen pictures.
For me, Gladiator II was an evocative return to 1959’s Ben-Hur, winner of 11 Academy awards, but without a chariot race.
Bold, action-packed, over-the-top, and loaded with melodrama, Ridley Scott balances sophistication with crowd-pleasing entertainment. Paul Mescal’s brooding and rugged demeanour adds depth to the film.
Please – do not wait for streaming. This needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
Movie: Gladiator II
Director: Ridley Scott
Duration: 153 mins
Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Fred Hechinger, Joseph Quinn, Yuval Gonen, Matt Lucas
Rating: ****½
Reviewed by Lawrenty
