Plot Summary – After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.

★★★½  

Watched 26 Nov 2024

I’m really conflicted about this one. On one hand, it’s a feel-good, fun, rousing movie that never stops entertaining even for a second. On the other, it’s a convoluted, over-written, derivative mess that doesn’t give the characters a second to breathe for any of the emotional moments to hit. Thankfully, for the most part, the good outweighed the bad for me in this film. I found it to be quite inspired by the original, to the point where some beats seemed plucked straight from the first film. I think it committed too hard to connecting it to the 2000 film, letting go of a coherent plot and natural character growth in exchange for nostalgia and the glory of its predecessor.

That being said, it is a film chock-full of great performances. Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington shine in the film and Denzel’s complex character in this film is such an interesting and layered portrayal by him. Paul Mescal has truly arrived this year as a leading man. In the same year that solidified Zendaya, Glen Powell, and Timothee Chalamet, we have yet another coronation of one of the superstars of tomorrow. He oozes class, charisma, and power in this film and shows that he is not just a softboy who headlines indie films and TV shows about how sad it is to love someone.

While the script is too complicated and too peppered with what they call ‘mass’ moments and masala akin to a classic Bollywood film, the film still works on a feel good level. Its quite an emotion-inducing film from great highs to pretty sad moments. The action and fighting in the film are also quite well executed, my favorite one being an early setpiece involving some animals that I have never seen used that way in a film. Overall, I think Gladiator II is an experience that is worth having. Even though its not perfect, god is it fun. I recommend you go to this with the intention of turning your brain off, cause you will have a good time if you let it take you over! I just wish it offered a little more depth and complexity and decided to tell its own story rather than try to remind you of what was.