Standing in the shadow of giants, Gladiator II largely lives up to the hype. Despite being met to mixed reviews, I think this movie delivers on most fronts that it was expected to. Gladiator (2000) is one of my favorite movies ever and while this is not without flaws, it definitely satiated my thirst for more.
Violent, epic, and visually stunning. Ridley Scott isn’t new to this game and he flexes all his prowess in 2h30m of over the top action here. I appreciate his (probably too) ambitious plot line here and the depth that it adds over that of the first film. That being said there are definitely significant instances of hand wavey development and questionable motives; to the point where it feels like the middle third was maybe edited down for time. Directors cut when?
As always I will watch literally anything that Denzel is in as he is always excellent and this is no exception. I think the actual character lacks a bit of depth but by no fault of his. I’m obsessed with the fact that he refuses to speak in the Roman cadence and meter as the rest of the cast. While at times jarring to hear him deliver lines like it’s 2024 and not 200AD, you can tell he’s having fun and I’m not one to criticize Denzel. The two emperors are also wonderful, perfectly conveying the arrogance and obnoxiousness of young Roman emperors. Fred Hechinger jump scare in this too WTF.
As for Paul Mescal. Obviously his performance here is polarizing, with most reviews I’ve read arguing that he’s clearly miscast for the role and out of place. While I don’t necessarily disagree that there are times where the facade is broken by his baby face - I think that is literally the point. He doesn’t need to be Maximus and he clearly isn’t. He’s supposed to be a boy- lost, betrayed, angry. He won me over ~45m into this and I never looked back. I think he’s wonderful here.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!? Obviously not as good as its big brother but by no means a slouch. Emperor says 🫴🏻👍🏼
Standing in the shadow of giants, Gladiator II largely lives up to the hype. Despite being met to mixed reviews, I think this movie delivers on most fronts that it was expected to. Gladiator (2000) is one of my favorite movies ever and while this is not without flaws, it definitely satiated my thirst for more.
Violent, epic, and visually stunning. Ridley Scott isn’t new to this game and he flexes all his prowess in 2h30m of over the top action here. I appreciate his (probably too) ambitious plot line here and the depth that it adds over that of the first film. That being said there are definitely significant instances of hand wavey development and questionable motives; to the point where it feels like the middle third was maybe edited down for time. Directors cut when?
As always I will watch literally anything that Denzel is in as he is always excellent and this is no exception. I think the actual character lacks a bit of depth but by no fault of his. I’m obsessed with the fact that he refuses to speak in the Roman cadence and meter as the rest of the cast. While at times jarring to hear him deliver lines like it’s 2024 and not 200AD, you can tell he’s having fun and I’m not one to criticize Denzel. The two emperors are also wonderful, perfectly conveying the arrogance and obnoxiousness of young Roman emperors. Fred Hechinger jump scare in this too WTF.
As for Paul Mescal. Obviously his performance here is polarizing, with most reviews I’ve read arguing that he’s clearly miscast for the role and out of place. While I don’t necessarily disagree that there are times where the facade is broken by his baby face - I think that is literally the point. He doesn’t need to be Maximus and he clearly isn’t. He’s supposed to be a boy- lost, betrayed, angry. He won me over ~45m into this and I never looked back. I think he’s wonderful here.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!? Obviously not as good as its big brother but by no means a slouch. Emperor says 🫴🏻👍🏼
2
