When is the last time you’ve watched Gladiator? Prior to revisiting it a few days before seeing the sequel, I hadn’t seen it since it first hit DVD nearly a quarter century ago. It’s a film with a ton of pedigree, all of it well-deserved. It won five Oscars, including Best Picture, while effectively introducing American crowds to one of the most enduring celebrities to ever do it: Russell Crowe (lead singer of 30 Odd Foot of Grunts).
In rewatching it, I was expecting the high-art epic historical drama that wowed film snobs and normies alike back in 2000, but what I found is that it’s not the film that lived in my memory. No, it’s actually something much better: a broadly appealing, well-constructed action flick. Had I not revisited it prior to Gladiator II, I may have found the sequel disappointing — just another piece of IP getting bled dry by a lamentable cinematic landscape all too happy to rehash anything and everything that could turn a buck — but now that my memory of the original film has been updated, I’m able to see that this long-awaited sequel is right in line with its predecessor. In fact, I’d say that in most departments it’s an improvement. This is largely because Ridley Scott is a filmmaker who can’t help but to grow his craft, and partially because the special effects wizardry required to transport us back to Ancient Rome have only gotten better since 2000 (and Scott is not the type of filmmaker to just throw his performers in a green box and build it all in post).
Hollywood’s current Hunkyboi Laureate Paul Mescal plays Lucius. You may remember him as the little boy who becomes a fan of Maximus in the original film, much to the chagrin of his uncle Commodus. Well, Lucius is all grown up now, and he’s clearly been doing pushups. My guess is quite literally thousands of push-ups. He and his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen) are very much in love. So much so that as they prepare to defend the walls of Numidia from an invading Roman army, anyone who has seen a movie before knows she’s going to die extremely hard. And that she does. The Romans, led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) take Lucius prisoner, and he is soon forced to fight as a gladiator for the entertainment of the Roman elite, including its dual emperors Geta and Caracalla (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, respectively), the latter of whom is in the advanced stages of a gnarly syphilis infection, which makes him behave like Joaquin Phoenix (in Gladiator, not in real life — okay maybe also in real life).
This is all fine by Lucius, who wishes only to have his revenge against Marcus and then die with honor. His owner Macrinus (Denzel motherfucking Washington!) assures his prized warrior that the opportunity will come, and if Lucius plays his cards right, he may one day earn his freedom.
So it’s sorta the same movie again, only newer. On the one hand, this means that you don’t really need to know the original film in order to enjoy the surface level thrills of the sequel. On the other, there are a handful of character connections (and one clever retcon) that do indeed tie directly to the preceding film. This results in a Blade Runner 2049 type of situation, in that the sequel is slightly superior, but its existence makes the original film even better. The two pictures complement each other well, and taken as one whole story it becomes the high art epic that we all incorrectly remember the original film being.
I can’t imagine that much of what goes down is historically accurate, but to quote Ridley Scott when asked about the verisimilitude of his turgid Napoleon: Get a life. Sure, a factual slice of history could be interesting, but for my money it’s nowhere near as interesting as a shark fight. Yes, there’s a scene where the Colosseum is flooded with water so that the gladiators can reenact a historic naval battle, complete with actual sharks. Yes, the sharks rip a few people to shreds. Yes, it’s like one hundred christmases stacked. And don’t even get me started on the rhinos and baboons.
From a technical perspective, each battle is tremendous. The dry heat of the arena can be felt, as can the oppressive enthusiasm of the crowd, and the watchful eye of the governmental leaders who place the fate of the gladiators in their powdered hands. The mixture of practical sets and digital backdrops are seamless, and there’s very little by way of hiding a lack of detail in an abundance of visual noise. Looking at the Colosseum’s audience, you can see the individuals in full detail (which does come into play — the crowd serves a larger role this time around, often drawing the ire of security, as if it’s an Eagles game. Go Birds). The animals are all digitally rendered, and it’s amazing to see how much more photoreal they look compared to the tigers of the original film. Still not perfect, but then again I’ve never seen a rabid baboon in real life, nor do I wish to.
This is the mastery of Ridley Scott. He knows how to make things visually exciting at both a macro and micro level, oftentimes simultaneously, as is the case here. Compared to the 2000 film, there are more instances where an active story backdrop exists behind the immediate action, which adds weight to the bloodletting. And yes, Gladiator II is quite explicitly violent.
This is also the mastery of the performers. Mescal has been on the rise for a few years now, and with Gladiator II his superstar status has been achieved. It’s as if we’re watching the Russell Crowe genesis once again, only this time there will hopefully be fewer embarrassing bar fights to follow. As a pop-culture junkie, seeing Mescal and Pascal square off felt like witnessing a brand new piece of indelible cultural iconography. I shan’t spoil, but there’s a moment that rivals Crowe’s legendary utterance of “are you not entertained?!?!”
Denzel is Denzel. What can I say about his performance that hasn’t already been said about God himself? He is simply not capable of delivering a bad performance, and it’s clear he’s reveling in playing such a slimy bastard as Macrinus. Jokes were made in the wake of the trailers that Washington was playing his character in too contemporary a way, but in context his is one of the best performances in the film. I’d say he’s second best. It’s Connie Nielsen, returning as Lucilla, who steals the show. She doesn’t have as much screen time as her co-stars, but a wealth of story beats rest on her shoulders. Her complicated emotional arc is one of the more nuanced characterizations in this film’s roster. Her moral code is not quite black and white, and despite being royalty, she is still a victim of systemic manipulation on account of being a woman — a smart and courageous one at that. If I may be shallow I must comment that she hasn’t aged a day in 24 years. I hope her appearance here will give her career a boost. She should be in more things. She should be a household name.
As the film reaches its final moments, the momentum is ultimately what gets it across a somewhat creaky finish line. It’s not unsatisfying by any means, but it plays rather small compared to the assault on the sense which came before. This isn’t to say that it needs to necessarily go bigger than the first two acts, just that the way it all wraps up seems lacking in the feeling of incessant peril which came before. It feels convenient. Lucius reaches a point where he comes across as invulnerable, which weakens his character. His predecessor Maximus was defined by his vulnerability, whereas Lucius could probably swallow a grenade and then belch out the smoke.
Even so, it would be a mistake to wait for streaming. This weekend Gladiator II and Wicked are competing for premium format real estate, and I get the sense that everyone’s favorite Wizard of Oz riff will ultimately stake the claim in the weeks to come, so act fast!
Anywho, back to my push-up regimen (I’m up to 3).
Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by David Scarpa, Peter Craig, based on characters created by David Franzoni
Starring Connie Nielsen, Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and Peter Mensah who was in Jason X (hell yeah!)
Rated R, 148 minutes
