TL;DR – It has a strong cast, all the bombast you need, and a solid narrative. It is just frustrating that it has these creative choices throughout that just rip you out of the film.  

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film

Gladiator II Review –

Well, 2024 has been the year of the legacy sequel, with Alien: Romulus, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,  Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Twisters all trying their hands on it to a mixed success. The next cab off the rank might have the most significant legacy of them all, or at least the most attempts in the past to make a sequel because there have been many. But it has been 24 years since our last outing of Gladiator, and we have to ask, was this the film we needed, or should it have stayed contained in the past?

So, to set the scene, it has been 20 years since the death of Marcus Aurelius, and Maximus Decimus Meridius’s slaying of Commodus did not bring about the grand return of the Republic. Instead, it drove it deeper into tyranny. Rome is now ruled by the Twin Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), who care more for blood and entertainment than the people’s health and happiness. Looking to secure their reign, they lashed out at any place defying the Empire using their dutiful general Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal). The last free city on the Mediterranean was in Numidia, where a young man (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Arishat (Yuval Gonen), live. It is a pitched battle, but the Romans win, and the young man who is versed in Roman poetry is carted off to die in the games after watching his wife fall to an arrow. But he stubbornly refuses to die in the arena, which brings the attention of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), who has the want to change his position, and now he has the means.

In some respects, I do feel sorry for this film because it has so much weight and legacy from the past to live up to. I am not sure it could have ever reached those heights. However, credit, where credit is due, they have made a gallant attempt at reaching for it, and a lot of that comes down to the cast. There is a reason you bring Connie Nielsen back, even if it makes no sense historically because you need that strong presence in the film. Paul Mescal clearly has the physicality for a role like this. I mean, they get him shirtless whenever they can get away with it. But he also brings that presence into every bit of dialogue, and you do believe he could rally the people to him. I loved what Pedro Pascal brought to this role because it was constantly engaging; he had an energy with which I deeply resonated. Oh, and Denzel Washington is clearly having a blast in every scene he is in, and that is a delight to watch.

The set-piece action sequences are as bombastic as they needed to be, bringing that energy from the first film into the 2020s. I did very much like the opening battle that created an almost D-Day amphibious assault that did happen at the time, like the Siege of Syracuse. They also perfectly captured the majesty of the Colosseum. It was the sports stadium of the day, and you feel that in the presence that they bring to it. The roar of the crowd, the sound of the rhinoceros crashing the gravel, the hiss of the arrows, everything. A lot of work has gone into the visuals of this film, and I do have to tip my hat to all the artisans who worked on the practical and digital constrictions. I also liked that Harry Gregson-Williams’ musical score mostly charted its own course but knew just when to crash in those Hans Zimmer themes. Also, I would be very interested to see how they pulled off that young Lucius (Alfie Tempest/ Spencer Treat Clark) composite.

Now, whether or not you like the narrative of this film is going to come down to how much it annoys you that they will hit most of the same beats as the last film. For me, I didn’t mind it because it fell closer to the Twisters or Tron: Legacy model of hitting those big moments that evoke the past but still telling a relatively exciting and mostly new story in between. So, yes, we have an opening battle away from Rome where our protagonist gets captured by slavers and fights his way into the Colosseum. But the motivations and machinations are all different. This is helped by a different energy from the Emperors that we needed and the wise introduction of Denzel Washington’s character.

Unfortunately, there were a number of creative choices in the movie that were just overblown and ended up ripping you out of the moment and out of the narrative. But to explain those choices, there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. The first of these moments comes near the start with the baboon fight. Baboons can be brutally vicious, so it is a great idea to use them here, especially on the outskirts of the Empire. However, the design of the creatures does not include baboons that exist in nature. It honestly felt like I was watching a sci-fi film where someone genetically engineered hairless murderous super baboons like in Ad Astra. It is like they were leaning on this being the horror section of the film and leaned in a little too hard.  

The next moment came in the navy battle inside of the Colosseum, which did happen in history, though probably not at this time or as extensive as we see. However, this was such an excellent idea that really gave a reason for the film to exist because this is not something they probably could have pulled off twenty years ago. You felt the hype of the audience as the ship pulled into the Colosseum, both in the movie and those watching in the cinema. However, the camera pans down, and we see great white shark-ish sharks in the water. At that moment, you don’t think, “Wow, cool”, you instead start going, “Wait, how did they get them there? How do you store sharks in Rome? Is that enough water for them? We can’t even keep them around for long today.” Then you sit there pondering why they didn’t use crocodiles or hippopotamuses, who were right there, they would have been just as epic, and fit the theme much better. I need to know why this choice was made. Was it a studio note, or did someone just really need to see some sharks?

All of this leads to the ending, which was the third time it happened, and I will keep my thoughts light so as not to ruin it. What we get is possibly the most contrived moment in cinema that I have seen all year or at least the most contrived thing in a film that was generally quite good up to that point. This is frustrating because you feel sorry for everyone involved. After all, they did not stick the landing after all that significant build-up. While the ending came close, I do not think any of these issues wholly sunk the film. I would not have given it a score so high if they had. However, these are more cautionary warnings that it is great to shoot for the Moon, but you have to make sure you are bringing your audience along with you and not taking them out of your film, which you have put so much hard work into.

In the end, do we recommend Gladiator II? While the film is not without its issues, I did still generally have an enjoyable time here. The battles are grand, the performances are solid, and I liked the story they told, even if it was treading over a well-worn path. If you liked Gladiator II, we would recommend to you RRR.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Gladiator II?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Gladiator II
Directed by – Ridley Scott
Screenplay by – David Scarpa
Story by – Peter Craig & David Scarpa
Based on – Gladiator by David Franzoni
Music by – Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography by – John Mathieson
Edited by – Claire Simpson & Sam Restivo
Production/Distribution Companies – Scott Free Productions, Red Wagon Entertainment, Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation & Paramount Pictures
Starring – Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi, Peter Mensah, Yuval Gonen, Matt Lucas, May Calamawy, Lior Raz, Tim McInnerny, Alexander Karim, Rory McCann, Amira Ghazalla ,Alec Utgoff,  Yuval Gonen, Chi Lewis-Parry, Riana Duce, Alfie Tempest, Dean Fagan, Hadrian Howard, Chris Hallaways, Tom Moutchi & Spencer Treat Clark
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: 14A; Germany: 16; New Zealand: M; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R