In 2000, Ridley Scott delivered with Gladiator one of his most masterful works, an enormous public and critical success, resurrecting the genre of the peplum, which had then fallen into oblivion. A quarter of a century later, the British filmmaker is trying to repeat the feat and offer a sequel worthy of the name to his cult film. What is this worth Gladiator 2 ? Here is our review.
The story of the film
Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum when his nation is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now rule Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find the strength and honor to restore the glory of Rome to his people.
Paul Mescal in Gladiator 2.
© Paramount Pictures
Our review
Five Oscars, including that of best film, 800 million dollars at the worldwide box office (with inflation), a profound mark in popular culture… It is an understatement to say that the aura of Gladiator is imposing. But while his story seemed closed, Ridley Scott today extends the legacy of the hero Maximus, whose ghost is omnipresent here.
The screenwriters Peter Craig (Top Gun: Maverick) and David Scarpa (Napoleon) also fully embrace this heredity by giving their story characters and a structure similar to the original feature film. A soldier who becomes a gladiator, revenge, conflicts at the highest levels: spectators will thus have a strange feeling of déjà vu.
Denzel Washington in Gladiator 2.
© Paramount Pictures
Gladiator 2 also embraces its status as an epic and uninhibited peplum, stringing together sequences each more impressive than the last. After NapoleonRidley Scott once again has fun with the past and puts the spectacle before any historical veracity. The result is a baroque film, spectacular to the point of absurdity, but definitely entertaining.
It must be said that this archetypal story of revenge is extremely effective, and Gladiator 2 carries us relatively well during the 2 h 28 min of the film in which Lucius (the talented Paul Mescal, seen in the series Normal People) plays a surprisingly secondary role.
Because where the first film placed Maximus more at its heart, this sequel offers a much more choral story, offering the characters of Acacius (Pedro Pascal) and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) real and interesting scores. Above all, the film develops the fascinating Roman political paradigm, in which Commodus gave way to the no less horrible co-emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger).
Pedro Pascal in Gladiator 2.
© Paramount Pictures
The arms and slave trader Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington, also imposes himself at the center of this brand new power game. The double Oscar-winning actor takes the lion's share here and conquers all the scenes in which he appears, giving this sequel a bit of his own identity and originality.
Because despite these efforts, Gladiator 2 leaves the persistent feeling of never existing on its own. As if to justify its own usefulness, this sequel constantly builds on its predecessor, repeating sequences, quoting extensively and even rewriting some subplots from the original film to support its point.
Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal in Gladiator 2.
© Paramount Pictures
The approach could certainly raise eyebrows among some temple guardians. Above all, it constantly imprisons this Gladiator 2 in the shadow of its model, a direct comparison – and lost in advance – with the cult film.
Gladiator 2 releases in cinemas on November 13, 2024.
- Watch the movie trailer:
Conclusion
How does the rating work?
With Gladiator 2Ridley Scott delivers a spectacular film, ticking most of the boxes for large-scale entertainment, in which Denzel Washington provides a tasty score. But weighed down by self-quotation and reverence to the original film, this sequel never really manages to exist on its own, and to extricate itself from a feeling of déjà vu.
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