‘Gladiator II’ is a Thrilling Roman Fight Club
Ridley Scott's late-coming sequel "Gladiator II" stakes few claims to necessity, but the action epic definitely entertains.
For those who are about to dive into Gladiator II feeling foggy about where the first film left off, director Ridley Scott salutes you with a pithy animated opening-credit sequence recapping the saga of champion Maximus Decimus Meridius.
He died.
The former Roman general, forced into bondage as a combatant in the arena, went out a hero, memorably portrayed by Russell “Are you not entertained?” Crowe, who took home an Oscar for his swaggering performance. Maximus’ snotty nemesis, the Emperor Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, also bit the dust, so, seemingly, the film tied up its loose ends.
Still, leave it to Sir Ridley — who’s been on a latter-career mission to extend seminal sci-fi franchises Alien and Blade Runner into sequels and TV series — to yank on a 24-year-old Gladiator thread nobody was really pondering. Whatever happened to young Lucius, the son of Commodus’ sister Lucilla, portrayed by Connie Nielsen? And, given Lucilla’s amorous history with Maximus, who was her kid’s father, really?
Gladiator II quickly explains that around the time Lucius went missing, after the death of Commodus, an orphan boy coincidentally wandered out of the North African desert into the free province of Numidia. That sprite grows up 16 years later to be known as Hanno, a revered soldier played with brooding soulfulness by Paul Mescal.
One-half of a fierce warrior couple with wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen), Hanno is thrust on a narrative path fairly identical to that of Maximus. David Scarpa, who wrote Scott’s Napoleon and All the Money in the World, doesn’t divert far from Gladiator‘s successful formula. Although, Mescal, whose Roman profile is persistently covered in lingering close-ups, provides a bit too understated a take on the franchise protagonist.
Following an action-packed battle, when a Roman armada commanded by Pedro Pascal’s valiant general Marcus Acacius invades Numidia by sea, Hanno winds up stripped of his status and branded a slave of the Roman Empire. Like Maximus, he’s forced into the life of a gladiator, who must be prepared to kill, or to die, for others’ amusement.
Fighting past a succession of deadly opponents in the arena, Hanno thirsts for vengeance against Marcus Acacius. Meanwhile, nonstop plotting is also afoot among well-draped members of the royal court of tyrannical twin Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger).
The twins show favor to Marcus Acacius and his wife Lucilla (Nielsen, reprising her role), though the couple pursues intriguing agendas of their own. The wild card in this mix is Macrinus, a former slave, now a cunning manager/owner of gladiators, played by Denzel Washington with a magnetic authority that practically bends every encounter to his will.
Impressed by the rage radiating off Hanno, Macrinus purchases him for his stable, and nurtures him into a champion in the arena. Scott, gleefully returning to his own silver screen arena, stages some magnificent action set pieces, both inside and outside the massive Colosseum.
The opening skirmish in Numidia, thrillingly depicting warfare by catapult, slings, arrows, and swords, sets an exciting standard that the film keeps meeting and or exceeding with subsequent matches against voracious baboons and angry rhinos.
Combining CGI visual effects with animatronic beasts, and the dirt, dust, and grit of well-rendered production design, Scott creates a fantasy of ancient Rome that’s invitingly tangible, and expensively campy. The showpiece scene of the Colosseum flooded with water, and stocked with sharks, for a mock sea battle, is wildly over-the-top, and stirring, anyway. Captured in a brilliant overhead shot sweeping across Rome, this Colosseum has weight and majesty.
The gladiator contests ultimately settle into a repetitive pattern, though, like rounds in a video game, and the film’s talky middle drags down the momentum. Thankfully, Washington’s twisted turn as devious and determined Macrinus truly snaps the whole show to attention towards the film’s climax, demonstrating that, while fresh legs can do the trick, sometimes it pays to send an old dog into battle.
Gladiator II (★★★☆☆) is rated R, and is playing in theaters nationwide. Visit www.fandango.com.
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