The first Gladiator was one of the best historical epics I’ve watched and is on top there with my favorite films of all time. So when Gladiator II was announced, I was ecstatic, but at the same time, felt torn. I wasn’t sure how they’re going to continue Maximus’ legacy. This sequel to Gladiator was… ok. I mean, if Gladiator was a 10/10, I’d give this a solid 6/10. Directed by Ridley Scott, he’s also the one who directed the original Gladiator and who’s behind the Alien franchise.

Gladiator II follows years after the death of Maximus at the hands of Commodus, Lucius’ uncle. Now he must enter the Colosseum after the powerful twin emperors of Rome conquer his home. With rage in his heart and the future of the empire at stake, he looks to the past to find the strength and honor needed to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Characters (minor spoiler)

• Lucius (played by Paul Mescal) was underwhelming. Granted he had very big shoes to fill, he doesn’t even make it to half of what Crowe’s had. It was hard to care for him. He doesn’t have that gritty and desperate look that viewers liked and one of the reasons why they fell in love with Crowe’s character more.
• General Acacius (played by Pedro Pascal) was a great fictional character and addition to the story. He basically was the one who brought Lucius to Rome. Pascal certainly got the look of a general, but it felt like he had a minor role to the whole plot.
• The twin emperors, Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) were exceptional. Hechinger’s portrayal of a mentally challenged emperor was on point. Screaming and flailing like a child. Quinn’s character was the more stable emperor, and acted as such.
  • Their complexion of having a porcelain-like skin, I thought was a good character design. It helped them stand out apart from the others, also giving them like a god-like status. Also, it gives that feel of those busts in museums that we see.
• Macrinus (played by Denzel Washington) was flawless. The way he moves and the way he speaks commands respect. Much like Oliver Reed’s Proximo from the first film. Going in, I wasn’t aware who’s who, so towards the unveiling of Denzel’s true purpose, it was a nice surprise. Oh and by the way, Denzel’s performance carried this film.

Historical Accuracy

• Is Gladiator II historically accurate? Yes and No. Most of the events that were shown in the movie are scattered across many years in Roman history, and they piled it all up here.
• Naval battle scenes – it is true that they held such events called “naumachiae”, but there’s no proof of it being held inside the colosseum, and there were no sharks involved.
• Its true they used animals in gladiator battles, but there were no records of a Rhino being ridden by a gladiator. Also, the baboons were a bit of a stretch, they did however brought in monkeys, but they never were the highlight, more of props on the stands.
• Fictional characters are:
  • Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal)
  • Macrinus (Denzel Washington) portrayed as an arms dealer and slave master, historically he was neither. The real Marcus Opellius Macrinus was a Roman emperor who ruled briefly after Caracalla, but he was not involved in gladiators or the other details depicted in the film.
  • Lucius (Paul Mescal), historically he d1ed during his childhood, even before his uncle, Commodus, became emperor.

What I didn’t like

They tried so hard to make a “successor” out of Paul Mescal that it ended up being a cheap imitation of Crowe’s Maximus. They gave Mescal a speech, much like the scene “Are you not entertained?!” of Crowe, but there wasn’t any oomph to it.

Mescal’s character was initially shown as being a normal foot soldier, no ranking/specialty whatsoever. But when he got to the coliseum, immediately he could command the others and acted like Maximus. The transition didn’t make sense.

Too much use of CGI in my opinion. The first was awesome because there was a sense of realism to it.

As lengthy as the movie was, they weren’t able to emotionally connect with the audience. I could care less what happens to Lucius. I was more invested in Denzel’s character to be honest.

Conclusion

Its a good one-time watch in my opinion. Gladiator II fails to capture the magic that Maximus had, ended up being a cheap copy of the original. The story was interesting because I wanted to know what happened to Lucius after Commodus died in the first film. I don’t think I’d watch it again though, I’d rather watch the first Gladiator again and again.