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Go behind the scenes with director Ridley Scott and the stars of Gladiator II
Featurette: Paramount Pictures

Gladiator II
Directed by Ridley Scott
Rated R
Freed 22 November 2024
#GladiatorII • #IMAX

Gladiator II gets an enthusiastic thumb up for its spectacle. A narrative pivot, though, earns a deeply vexed thumb down.

Make Rome Great Again

This sequel to the 2000 box office and creative blockbuster that won the Oscar for Best Picture and earned Russell Crowe the statue for Best Actor takes place 16 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius. By extension, that’s also roughly 16 years after the events of Maximus Decimus Meridius and Emperor Commodus.

The key players include the return of Lucilla Aurelius (Connie Nielsen, Wonder Woman) and her son, a now grown-up Lucius (Paul Mescal, All of Us Strangers). Lucilla is married to Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian), an upstanding general with his own concerns about the state of the empire and its ruling class. Rome is under the rule of “twin” emperors, Geta (Joseph Quinn, A Quiet Place: Day One) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger, Nickel Boys). And there’s a new puppeteer, a master manipulator named Macrinus (Denzel Washington, The Equalizer).

Under the chaotic, hedonistic rule of Geta and Caracalla, Rome has degenerated into an overly permissive society wallowing in a diseased cesspool. The people have not seen hope in many years and some seek a return of Roman glory. Yet there are also people who want to bring it all crashing down from the inside, implementing sordid plots and political intrigue driven by past injustices and personal affronts.

Gladiator II starts with the familiar story beats of the original. There’s a good man, Lucius, a dedicated soldier deeply committed to freedom and justice. He’s madly in love with his wife, who’s also on the field of battle, taking a stand for Numidia, in North Africa, against the Roman Empire as it expands its turf. She doesn’t survive and he’s captured. Lucius enters the same gladiatorial circuit as Maximus, but the stakes are even greater this time around.

Strength and Honor

At times Gladiator II plays like a telenovela, but it still manages to retain the strong thematic core of Gladiator. Part of the fun is considering the parallels between the ancient world depicted onscreen and the world we know today. How much has changed, really? Beyond the technology and CGI? Beyond IMAX and incredible sound systems?

While doing Gladiator II promotional interviews, Denzel Washington – who’s great as Macrinus – has advised people to realize they’re being manipulated by both of the major U.S. political parties. So true. But so many fall into the trap of criticizing the rhetoric of the opposition while being tone deaf to their own toxic rhetoric.

As for Macrinus, he sees in Lucius a righteous rage. Macrinus isn’t interested in owning (or managing) an entertainer. He’s looking for a tool with which to enact his own plans.

In Gladiator II, Rome is a mere shadow of the dream Marcus Aurelius held, a dream so fragile it could only be spoken of in a whisper. The legendary leader is now deemed by some as having been a dangerous man. But, as it happens, Marcus Aurelius has enjoyed a cinematic renaissance in 2024 A.D. He figured heavily in Francis Ford Coppola’s unfairly maligned (and not so surprisingly misunderstood) Megalopolis. And he’s quoted here, alongside those famous words of Maximus, “What we do in life echoes in eternity.”

Gladiator II – with a screenplay by director Ridley Scott’s go-to scribe, David Scarpa (Napoleon) – doesn’t offer a match for the great, inspiring lines of the original’s Oscar-nominated screenplay by David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson.

Perhaps the best new line comes from Lucius, “Torture me, but don’t lecture me.” He also asks this vital question, “Is this how Rome treats its heroes?” As for the emperors, they’re thrilled to announce, “There will be games and mass executions.”

Still, the best words are from Marcus Aurelius.

In particular, the soul of the movie revolves around this gem attributed to Marcus: “The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” If only more people took on that world view. Instead, monsters today tend to be defeated by those who themselves become monsters. The cycle never ends, the pendulum never stops swinging, never reaches the rest state of equilibrium – or equality.

Lucius stands where Maximus once stood, defying a corrupt empire. And, in keeping with that sense of a passage of time and the natural progression of ever more sophisticated entertainment, Lucius endures gladiatorial combat at a much more intense level. Opponents now include baboons. The stately chariot has been traded in for a rhinoceros. The taste for the theatrical now sees the Colosseum’s stage flooded and the waters infested with sharks as the fights recreate ocean battles with escalating peril.

Are you not entertained?

Let the Gods Decide

Ridley Scott – much like Coppola – isn’t slowing down and it’s a thrill to see him creating massive historical epics like Gladiator II and Napoleon. The latter is yet another oft-maligned movie that seems to be misunderstood largely because of a lack of appreciation for history. While watching both, bigger questions come to mind: What makes a great leader? What does it even mean to “lead”? How do their personal life and challenges impact their ability to lead and make sound decisions?

History is looney in so many ways for one reason: All history involves people. As a general rule, people are nuts. Napoleon was a little nutty. There really were “twin” emperors or, at least, sibling emperors. The point isn’t to quibble about the details of historical accuracy in every frame, but to appreciate the reality that grounds the historical fiction. That’s the key to the entertainment value, whether it’s Maximus and Napoleon or Indiana Jones and Robert Langdon.

With both Napoleon and Gladiator II, Scott brings spectacle on a massive scale to the big (as big as possible) screen. It’s a renaissance of historical figures on the screen and golden-age filmmaking behind the scenes, a rebirth of Cecil B. DeMille’s sensibilities and grand scenes with a cast of thousands (albeit some of a digital variety).

Rage Against the Empire

But there’s a betrayal afoot.

A huge part of the appeal of Gladiator is its lead hero, Maximus. He’s the quintessential “good man.” Devoted to his wife and son. A seeker of vengeance for their murder. A man who stands in the center of the Colosseum in search of justice.

Gladiator II, however, casts something of a smudge on his unimpeachable character. It’s a wholly unnecessary twist. It’s one that doesn’t entirely make sense in terms of the characters impacted, but the timeline it proposes is reasonable. While the motivation is easy to understand from a storytelling point of view, there are other ways to go about getting to the same end.

Scott has made comments that he has an idea for a third Gladiator and now, with Gladiator II in full view, his tease that it’s inspired by The Godfather Part II is making more sense. A third installment that serves as both prequel and sequel could do something to restore the shine on Maximus’ honor.

• Originally published at MovieHabit.com.