Legacy sequels have been a major trend over the past few years, and Gladiator 2 delivers another standout. A film like Gladiator was perfect for a revival. Films like Fury Road, Top Gun: Mavericketc. have proven audiences’ appetite to revisit beloved stories in new ways. Gladiator is one of the more beloved movies of its era. Winning 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, and being the 2nd highest-grossing film of 2000 (only bested by Mission: Impossible 2). And while the story of Maximus and Commodus ended decisively and brilliantly, the story of young Lucius – Maximus and Lucilla’s son – was always dangling there to be continued if Ridley Scott ever so chose.
The legacy sequel era combined with the Roman Empire’s unique space in public consciousness, the blank canvas of Lucius, and Ridley Scott’s refusal to go quietly into that good night births Gladiator 2. Gladiator 2 picks up the story of Lucius (Paul Mescal). Now a grown man who has paved his own way outside of the city after the death of his father but finds himself back in the Colosseum due to Rome’s neverending conquest. A movie like this runs the risk of being trapped in a previous era. Of trying too hard to reclaim a bygone glory. Of being met by collective yawns of a new audience more interested in TikTok trends than in a 24-year-old story.
But, through incredible performances from Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, and some combination of prescience, blind luck, or total accident, Gladiator 2 finds itself brilliantly kicking off a new era entirely. The Second Resistance Era.
Yes, Gladiator 2 Is That Deep
I understand the temptation to say “It’s really not that deep”. The past 15 or so years have killed most notions of sincerity, earnestness, or *gasp* “wokeness” being good things in popular media. But Ridley Scott is cut from a different cloth. While the original Gladiator is happy to lean into the familiar trappings of spectacle and sport, it’s inherently a political film as well. There’s no way you saw that film and missed the political maneuverings of the senate, the mechanisms of Roman succession/rule, and the literal slave revolt at the heart of it. Gladiator 2 doesn’t shy away from these elements either.
The movie opens with the context that the “Dream of Rome” Maximus fought and died for has more or less disappeared entirely in the years since his death. In its place, co-emperors Geta and Caracalla (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger) rule over a Rome impulsively shaped to their whims leaving destruction and poverty in their wake while they throw lavish parties where slaves fight to the death for their entertainment.
Gladiator 2’s Musings on Hope and Resistance
After his home is conquered by General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), Lucius finds himself in Rome under the employ of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), fighting to survive the games to get his chance at revenge against Acacius. From Gladiator 2‘s straightforward premise, Ridley Scott explores the aforementioned “Dream of Rome” often. The dream of freedom and liberty. The rejection of tyranny and inequality. And the hope that better things are possible even in the face of overwhelming odds and opposition.
Seeing Gladiator 2 on the Thursday night after the presidential election, it’s impossible for me not to see the parallels to our bleak new world. Sitting in a packed theater watching people tell Paul Mescal that the Roman Dream his daddy believed in is either long dead or was never alive and watching him fight for it anyway was the first thing to make me feel the will to go on after my shattering disappointment in my fellow Americans.
One of the burdens of being a person capable of critical thought is that it’s nearly impossible to separate art from the context in which it’s consumed. While yes, it’s kind of stupid that historians are coming to tell us that there were never shark fights in the real Colosseum, it’s also important to remember that movies have an outsized impact on what we think and how we talk about things. And, whether intentionally or not, Gladiator 2 has inserted itself into a new conversation as the first cultural touchpoint to preach the virtues of resistance in the Trump 2.0 era. Fortunately for us, Gladiator 2 fucking RULES too outside of the happenstance of its release timing.
Gladiator 2 Is As Awesome As You’d Hope
Incredible Action and Performances
While the parallels of Gladiator 2‘s political climate to our own are impossible for any reasonably aware person to ignore, the insane aura of Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington on screen together is equally undeniable. Mescal, better known for smaller and more intimate films like All of Us Strangers and After sun quickly assuages any doubts that he was a perfect casting for a film like Gladiator 2. We immediately see his Lucius in action defending his homeland against the invading forces of Pedro Pascal’s Acacius. A short, but compelling battle that sets a fantastic story in motion. We’ve seen Pedro Pascal with a sword plenty of times before, but both Mescal and Pascal are completely believable as peak fighting specimens and their action set pieces deliver at every point.
While on its face the idea of flooding the Coloseum and putting sharks in it so dudes can fight to their death above them is kind of ridiculous, in practice it’s cool as hell. Sequels like Gladiator 2 always have an interesting challenge in trying to avoid jumping the shark (sorry, I had to) while trying to rachet up the stakes of the original. Gladiator 2 passes that test with flying colors. Delivering new spectacle and splendor without forgetting to invest in the human stories at its core or entirely abandoning some of the straight-up and brutal man-to-man combat that made the first movie work. Gladiator 2 also finds unexpected ways to make its characters compelling beyond the seemingly straightforward notions of heroes and villains who are all good or all bad. Pascal especially shines in this way.
Denzel Washington Shines in Gladiator 2
The real scene-stealer though, is Denzel Washington’s Macrinus. Your mileage may vary on whether you believe Denzel should have faked some accent (which one, I don’t know. What should a former Roman slave speaking English sound like?), but Washington’s performance in Gladiator 2 is one of the most compelling turns for a supporting actor in years. My screening was hanging on not only Washington’s every word but his every movement. There were times when Macrinus is onscreen just menacingly adjusting his rings or clasping his hands and the theater erupted with giddy giggles because Denzel just looked like the coolest dude ever. That Denzel still has this power and appeal at soon-to-be 70 years old is a marvel unto itself. And Ridley Scott knows how to turn it up to take Gladiator 2 to another level.
Gladiator 2 Final Thoughts and Grade
Gladiator 2 had a lot to live up to given the legacy of the original, and between the enthralling action of the Colosseum and incredible performances from its 3 stars, it delivers an outstanding film worthy of the mantle. However, where I believe it’ll carve out its own legacy is in the context of whatever comes next in this new era of America. It’s impossible to ignore the effect the election has on how we view this film. Gladiator 2 shines as the first film of the New Resistance Era. As an important reminder of what’s worth fighting for, and what hope truly looks like.
Grade: A
Recommendation: Hire a babysitter, see it in theaters, buy some snacks, support real cinema
And no matter what happens, keep fighting the good fight. We all we got.
