Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal may star in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, but make no mistake, this is Denzel Washington’s movie.
Gladiator II is one of those “nobody asked for this” sequels where it didn’t really need to happen, but given the sequel/remake/rebook trend, it was practically fated.
Ridley Scott returns for the sequel to his beloved 2000 film Gladiator with a story that retreads a lot of the same ground. A dead wife, a revenge story, a lot of people dramatically discussing the “dream of Rome”, and lots of gladiator action.
Rome is in a state of disarray, ruled by twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) who are indulgent and uninterested in the needs of the citizens. Something’s gotta give.
Meanwhile, Lucius(Paul Mescal) wants revenge on General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) and is forced to fight as a gladiator for Macrinus (Denzel Washington), who has ambitions of his own.
As someone who doesn’t have a lot of nostalgia for the original, this probably worked better for me than most people. I wasn’t bothered by the increasingly over-the-top action or convoluted plotting—I watched 8 seasons of Game of Thrones so I’m all about the scheming and backstabbing.
While the movie was marketed heavily on Mescal and Pascal, the true star is Denzel muthafuckin Washington, who eats and leaves no crumbs. His performance is like Littlefinger from GoT with an added flamboyance and flare that makes him incredibly dynamic to watch. Whenever he wasn’t on screen, I wished we’d cut back to him.
So there’s still fun to be had in Gladiator II if you go in with expectations low and your main goal is to see Denzel delightfully chew the scenery, but if you’re expecting the mixture of action and emotion of the original, you might leave feeling a bit let down.