In 2000, Russell Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius entertained audiences with his magnificent swordsmanship and illustrious speeches in Gladiator, Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning historical epic. Twenty-four years later, Scott returned to the arena with a new hero in Gladiator II. Paul Mescal stars as Lucius, the son of Maximus and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who left Rome as a child to escape assassination attempts. Sixteen years later, Lucius is living in Numidia when Roman forces led by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) invade his home, kill his wife, and sell him into slavery. Driven by rage, Lucius trains to be a gladiator and embarks on a vengeful quest to kill Acacius and tear down the entire Roman Empire.
Following up a movie as legendary, quotable, and beloved as Gladiator would never be easy. Scott has always been up for a challenge. This is the same filmmaker who decided to risk Alien’s legacy by helming the prequel Prometheus. (Spoiler alert: Prometheus is excellent.) There is much to like about Gladiator II — action, visuals, and Denzel Washington. Unfortunately, it never reaches the heights of Gladiator.
Denzel Washington being the best part presents a problem
In the least surprising news, Washington is far and away the best aspect of Gladiator II. Washington has more skill in his pinky than 95% of Hollywood. Macrinus will charm your socks off with his eccentric smile and flamboyance. Yet he’s a killer at heart with no qualms about violence and bloodshed. Washington’s Macrinus combines the ferocity of Frank Lucas from American Gangster with the cockiness of Alonzo Harris. Macrinus is the puppet master driven by the thirst for power, a mindset he never forgets. Washington chews up every word of dialogue and has anyone who listens, including the audience, in the palm of his hand.
Washington is too good to a fault. That’s not his problem, though. His literal job is to give the best performance by bringing the words on the page to life on screen. It’s a story and script problem. Lucius is the protagonist of Gladiator II. He’s the character on the hero’s journey, and he completes his arc by the end of the film. But anytime Lucius is on screen with Macrinus, the lines of who to root for are blurred.
For the entire movie, the audience is waiting for the other shoe to drop with Macrinus. He’s clearly scheming to run Rome from the get-go. However, it’s easy to support Macrinus’ rise to power when two foolish emperors act like children. Until he shoots an arrow through Lucilla’s heart, how can you not root for Macrinus and Lucius?
Gladiator does not have this problem. The lines are clearly drawn from the beginning. Gladiator’s story structure starts and ends with Maximus, the story’s true hero. Below him is the familial drama with Lucilla, Commodus, and Marcus Aurelius. Then there’s everything else, like the Roman Senate. In Gladiator II, Lucius is the protagonist on a path toward redemption. Once he gets to Rome, his quest weirdly takes a back seat to Macrinus’ schemes and Lucilla’s political movements. Where is Lucius? Well, he’s in a cell under the Colosseum for most of this drama when he should have been actively participating in more of the story.
CGI animals are distracting
Gladiator feels like one of the last blockbuster movies to not feel like a “CGI fest.” The CGI superhero and fantasy revolution would come soon after with Spider-Man and Harry Potter. Obviously, CGI is used in Gladiator in its depiction of Ancient Rome and certain scenes with Oliver Reed’s Proximo, who died during production. Nonetheless, the battle scenes in the Colosseum are exquisite. It’s pulse-pounding action whenever Maximus picks up a sword and fights for survival. The chariot battle, where Maximus leads his fellow gladiators to victory before giving one of his iconic speeches, is a masterclass in blocking, filming, and executing a battle sequence. These fights still look as visceral and as raw as ever 24 years later.
The same can’t be said for Gladiator II. After an effective war sequence between the Numidians and Romans, the movie shifts toward CGI opponents — baboons, a rhino, and sharks. Scott’s idea for including baboons makes sense. He wanted Lucius to become an alpha by transforming from a prisoner to a gladiator. Why couldn’t that have been done fighting another man? As weird as the baboons appear, nothing was stranger than seeing sharks (?) in the Colosseum. It’s so distracting that it takes the audience out of the scene. Using a naval battle to highlight Lucius’ leadership and combat skills is a good idea. The sharks, however, are a huge swing and a miss.
Speaking of hand-to-hand combat, the best combat scene in Gladiator II is the fight between Lucius and another warrior at the senator’s party. It’s a gritty and grounded fight with life-or-death stakes. It showcases the strength and physical prowess needed to be a gladiator. That’s all an audience needs. That short fight scene details the character’s motivations more than any scene in the Colosseum. Lucius’ refusal to state his name shows he will never serve this version of Rome. Macrinus manipulates the emperors at every turn to stay in their good graces. Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) are overindulgent and underqualified fools. Gladiator II needed more of this and less of Dr. Evil’s sharks.
Lucius is not Maximus no matter how hard he tries
It seems unfair to say that Lucius is not Maximus. Mescal, a fantastic young actor with a bright career ahead of him, could never live up to Crowe’s career-defining performance. It doesn’t mean Mescal can’t win an Oscar and be like Crowe. Maximus is just a better character than Lucius. Maximus is the honorable general who will stop at nothing to avenge his dead wife, child, and mentor. He carries himself with the gravitas of a Roman hero, with quintessential speeches to take his lore to another stratosphere.
Lucius is the son of Maximus, but he doesn’t have his father’s presence. No matter how hard Gladiator II tries to make Lucius its Maximus, it falls just short. Maximus always knew his goals: restore order to Rome and kill Commodus. What does Lucius want? He originally wishes to kill General Acacius. Once Acacius is out of the picture, then what? Lucius says he wants to implement his grandfather’s dream for Rome. But that’s the dream of Lucius’ father, mother, and grandfather. It’s not his dream.
Lucius’ speeches do not have the same impact as those of Maximus. Mescal’s best speech is before the final battle in the Colosseum, where he recites the “we are not where death is” line from his time in Numidia. The most important line from that speech is when Lucius says, “I am not a general.” He’s right. Lucius is a solider; Maximus is a general. Both are still compelling characters. One is just a little higher in the pecking order.
Gladiator II is now in theaters.
