Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II is bigger and messier than the first

By Esther Zuckerman

Movie Review
Gladiator II
Directed by Ridley Scott

IN 2000, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator made perhaps the ultimate dad movie. The story of the Roman general-turned-slave Maximus Decimus Meridus, played by Russell Crowe, reduced grown men to tears with its portrayal of honor in the face of cowardice, and went on to win best picture at the Oscars the next year. Crowe also got a best actor trophy for his stoic take on a wronged man who stands up for himself.

Now, 24 years later, Scott returns with Gladiator II, the to come out of Hollywood and one that’s guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser. These days everyone is feeling very argumentative, but the Roman Empire as imagined by Scott offers ridiculous fun for the whole extended clan (depending on your ability to stomach lots of bloodshed). Sure, the message of the movie will play differently depending on who’s watching. Is it a tale of a lone man overthrowing tyrannical madness? Or a plea for a return to old values? Or does any of that matter when you’re just there to have a good time? Are you not, as Maximus , entertained?

Gladiator II is ultimately a bigger, more bombastic, and thematically messier movie than Gladiator, but it thrives on excellent performances and Scott’s knack for capturing ferocious fight sequences.

The film takes place 16 years after the events of Gladiator. Rome is ruled by brothers Geta and Caracalla (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, both terrifying and hilarious), a pair of authoritarian emperors with painted faces, who want to extend their reach as far as possible and bide their time by attending lavish parties. (Caracalla literally walks around with a monkey on his back.) The plot gets underway when these power-hungry dimwits send general Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) to conquer Numidia in Northern Africa.

In what will ultimately be bad news for Rome’s ruling class, it turns out that Numidia is where Lucius lives. The first film introduces Lucius as the bright-eyed son of blond beauty Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who moviegoers of a certain age will remember as the lover of Crowe’s Maximus and sister of Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus, the weaselly, incest-inclined emperor who ascends to the throne after killing his father.

Now played by internet idol Paul Mescal, Commodus’ nephew is all grown up with thighs for days. Lucius’ wife is killed during the sack of Numidia, while Lucius is captured and eventually sold to Denzel Washington’s Macrinus, a charming arms dealer with a double ear piercing and, just as formidable, a stable of gladiators for hire.

Macrinus decides to use Lucius’ untamable fury at the Roman establishment to his advantage. If Lucius wins in the Colosseum, Macrinus, a former slave himself, can increase his own status — which seems even more likely as he notices the interest Lucilla takes in his champion. Complicating things further, she is now married to Acacius (the general), who’s not as bad a guy as one might expect; he’s frustrated with the current state of Rome and plotting to unseat the chaotic emperors who act purely on impulse and bloodlust. Whew! Can you see where this is going?

This twisty, busy narrative narrows into one overall question: whether Lucius, the grandson of emperor Marcus Aurelius, will accept his birthright and step up to lead Rome down a righteous path, or whether he will be too consumed by his anger to save the place from tyranny. Unsurprisingly, he makes the obvious choice. This ultimate simplicity saps the poignancy of its predecessor, but it makes it easy to graft whatever ideology you want onto it.

Mescal, known for sensitive turns in indie films such as Aftersun and , plays Lucius with wild eyes and a sturdy physicality that makes him feel impenetrable in the ring but unpredictable outside it. Lucius is less inherently noble than his predecessor Maximus — his own desire for revenge threatens to overtake his heroism, making him more compelling as eye candy, I mean as a protagonist. For most of the film, he’s acting only in his own self-interest, his mind singularly focused on destruction.

If there’s any one reason to see Gladiator II, it’s to watch what Washington does as Macrinus. Clad in gilded robes, rings adorning most of his fingers, the lauded actor tears into his dialogue like he’s biting a piece of perfectly cooked steak. He evolves into the main villain of the piece — outranking the frivolous Geta and Caracalla in evil machinations — and whenever he flashes that trademark smile or prances about, he’s even more captivating than the brutal battles that Scott stages (which are, to be clear, extremely fun).

Sure, some of the CGI animals that enter the arena don’t exactly look like they’re from nature, especially the sharks that circle underneath the ships during a sequence in which the Colosseum is filled with water for a very confined naval battle. Still, if you’re looking for ruthless and surprising hand-to-hand combat with muscles rippling and ripping, Scott has that for you in spades.

There was a recent about men constantly thinking about the Roman Empire, a generalization implying that dudes can’t get enough power plays in togas. In some ways, Gladiator II will prove that meme right. Though it’s all wildly inaccurate historically — Scott clearly doesn’t care — getting sucked into the melee is easy. For a moment this fall, everyone will be thinking about Rome.

The movie is opening in the Philippines on Dec. 4 with an R-16 MTRCB rating. — Bloomberg