« Gladiator 2 » sequel to the cult film « Gladiator » .
The story takes place sixteen years after the events involving Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). His son Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), whom he had with Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), lives with his wife in Numidia then in rebellion against the Roman Empire led by the young Emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn ). During the attack of the Roman army led by General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) against the rebels, Lucius' wife is killed while fighting and the latter is reduced to slavery. Lucius finds himself fighting as a gladiator for Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a power-hungry former slave who is plotting to join the elite of Roman society. Macrinus will use the hatred of Lucius, who wants revenge on Acacius, to achieve his ends…
After the enormous success of « Gladiator » in 2000 a sequel was quickly considered by the producers to continue to exploit the vein. From the start, director Ridley Scott is up for it because he wants to tell a story about Lucius, the son of Maximus. However, this sequel will take a long time to see the light of day for various reasons. When Ridley Scott clearly formalized the start of work on a sequel to his « Gladiator » I fell out of my chair because for me this film is one of its untouchable classics which absolutely do not need a sequel, the film is sufficient in itself. So I was very skeptical about the project. Already the late sequels more than twenty years later rarely give anything good. And then especially Ridley Scott's latest projects have done nothing to reassure me, particularly his prequels of « Alien » which I rather appreciated but full of faults, « House of Gucci » nice but very forgettable or again “Napoleon” nice but could have been much better. He still had a start with “The Last Duel” one of his best films. And the trailer only reinforced my fears. Okay so what is this sequel to the legendary worth? « Gladiator » ? Well, as I feared, it’s honestly not great. We clearly feel that Grandpa Scott is lacking inspiration, the film only repeating the main lines of the original film without really innovating. We are clearly in a remake of the first opus but less good. The film clearly feels like it's warming up. Initially this sequel follows the events of the first part and is therefore intended to be a continuation of the first film. We tell ourselves that we are going to be treated to a new interesting story, this time centering on Lucius, the son of Maximus, but our hope is short-lived because very quickly this second episode will repeat most of the big sequences of the first opus in a kind of disguised remake
(The hero who loses his wife as in the first film, who will be sold as a slave as in the first film, who will become a gladiator and fight in the arena as in the first film, who will take leadership in the arena by allying with the other gladiators to be able to survive as in the first film, who will have support from the character of Lucilla who will come to see him in prison as in the first film, who will end up taking revenge by killing his enemies as in first film during a final fight…)
. In short, it's the same thing as the first opus but the surprise effect is passing and well it really warms you up, we don't really have any surprises and we therefore guess the outcome quite quickly. In addition, the political intrigues that punctuate the film with their share of plots and betrayals to seize power are seen again and again. It's hackneyed to the core. We have already seen it ten times, notably in the series « Game Of Thrones » much better.
Lucius, the hero of the film who will therefore be forced to become a gladiator, played by actor Paul Mescal, clearly does not have the charisma of Russell Crowe. It's very bland in comparison. But above all, they failed to make it as endearing for us. In the first film we were really attached to the character of Russell Crowe who had a truly tragic story which we absolutely do not feel in this sequel. We were really behind him during his quest for revenge against Commodus. The new character clearly leaves us indifferent. Well afterward he remains credible in his role and he does the job without being transcendent either. He will want to take revenge on General Marcus Acacius played by Pedro Pascal who therefore plays a rather credible Roman general but unfortunately his character is not very developed. The two twin brothers, played by the actors Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, who are therefore the two new Emperors of Rome and therefore the two new antagonists of the film are more ridiculous than anything else, constantly bawling like c**ts. They are really ridiculous compared to Commodus the antagonist of the first film played by Joaquin Phoenix who made an anthology villain. Only the actor Denzel Washington stands out by playing an interesting manipulative character who will notably use Lucius to carry out his Machiavellian projects, including that of taking power in Rome.
The soundtrack is not at all remarkable unlike that of the first part by Han Zimmer which was truly epic. I even found her very discreet throughout the film. Aside from a few cult themes taken from the first part, there is absolutely nothing memorable in this soundtrack.
After all, this sequel is not disastrous either. The reconstruction of Ancient Rome is once again successful thanks to very good sets and costumes.
The film remains entertaining if you want action you will get what you pay for with its share of epic battles
(the attack of the boats against the city)
and spectacular arena fights. Its action sequences are rather well staged despite the abuse of digital special effects at times which make this sequel a little less realistic at times where the first film was intended to be much more realistic with much more action scenes. believable turn completely in real. There were already some digital effects in the first film but not really in the action scenes, it was mainly to give birth to the city of Rome but they were much more discreet. I also find that certain action scenes are a little rushed for my taste and that they border on lame at times. To make the film a little more spectacular than the first part and to try to innovate a little, they put all kinds of new creatures against the gladiators in the arena. The gladiators therefore find themselves fighting against
monkeys (which look more like Aliens than real monkeys in poorly constructed CGI), Rhinos and even… sharks (true!).
So at times we are no longer in « Gladiator » but in “Alien”, “Jumanji” or “Jaws” . It looks a little nanardesque. That's it if you want your dose of action you will be served. If you just want to see a basic action film without worrying and you don't ask for more, your expectations will surely be met. Now if you are a big fan of the first film and you loved the whole universe of the first part with its charismatic and endearing characters, its memorable antagonist, its legendary music, its gripping story, its epic battles, its tragic side, its emotion it is a great disillusionment that awaits you. You will clearly not have a great film like the first part, just a product that is entertaining at the time but very quickly forgettable. It is better that you stay on the very good impression of the first part and that you forget this very dispensable sequel.
To summarize « Gladiator 2 » is therefore a very disappointing sequel to the legendary « Gladiator » which only repeats the main lines of the original film but much less well even if it remains entertaining and spectacular overall.
