By Jamil Weeks

Ridley Scott is one of the most revered filmmakers of the past few decades. The visionary director is behind some of the most quintessential films in pop culture such as Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, and Black Hawk Down. Over two decades later, movie audiences are being fed the sequel to another one of his classics, Gladiator, just in time for Thanksgiving. Gladiator II picks up roughly 16 years after the original. Starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington, the film centers around Mescal’s character, Hanno, who is this film’s version of Russel Crowe’s Maximus character from the original. Like Maximus, Hanno is enslaved after enduring tragedy at the hands of evil rulership. Another striking similarity is Hanno gains the opportunity to win back his freedom by fighting as a gladiator like Maximus before him. As he fights for the amusement of the Roman Empire, he wins the hearts of the common people. Sounds very familiar. As we get to know more about Hanno during his bloody and brutal fights and the Shakespearian-style scenes in between, we discover there is a connection linking Hanno to Maximus that ties this sequel to its predecessor.

Gladiator II is a film epically grand in scale. The film contains some of the most beautiful wide shots that you will ever see on an IMAX screen. The war and fight scenes rival any military battle you have ever watched. The filmmakers pluck the audience from their theater seats and drop them off in the middle of Ancient Rome with the meticulous detail of each take. Scott brought back John Mathieson, who was the cinematographer on the first Gladiator. Mathieson and Scott chose to shoot the film with multiple cameras, even putting cameramen in costume while rolling. Stylistically, Mathieson and Scott were able to flaunt the massive scope of the story they were trying to tell. Lush frames capturing hundreds of Roman battleships sailing at sea to invade Hanno’s home of Numidia or thousands of Roman commoners rioting in the streets. The spectacle of battleship fights in shark infested waters in the Roman Colosseum in front of tens of thousands of spectators. These are just a couple examples of eye-popping visuals Mathieson and Scott use to justify the film’s colossal $250 million plus budget.

Despite the noticeable but understandable absence of Russel Crowe, the cast of this film manages to make this film another compelling watch. Connie Nielsen reprises her role from the first Gladiator as Lucilla. Once again she finds herself entangled in a power struggle where the fate of Rome hangs in the balance. As Maximus’s former lover, she is now married to General Acacius. Played by Pedro Pascal, who Acacius also has a connection to Maximus as he was trained by Maximus. Both Lucilla and Acacius share the same sentiment that Rome deserves better leadership than the current regime. Taking over the reins as the evil and power-hungry head of Rome are the conniving and diabolical twins, Geta (played by Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (played by Fred Hechinger). The twin emperors use Acacius as their muscle to invade and conquer new territories. All of these actors maximize on their performances with what time they are allotted in the film. These actors understood the gravity of following in the footsteps of the classic first film and gave their best efforts in matching the quality in acting.

Perhaps the two standout performances come from Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington. Gladiator II is Hanno’s story. We follow his journey as a happily married and high ranking soldier in the Numidian military to becoming a symbol of hope for the Roman people as the beloved gladiator. Mescal steps into the enormous shoes of Russell Crowe as the lead in this film with a formidable performance. Mescal exudes the intensity needed to be convincing as the fiery gladiator. Mescal also manages to be credible and authentic as a leader, coming across as personable and trustworthy in his performance. Then you have Washington, as the master manipulator, Macrinus. As Macrinus, we see Washington play both sides of the fence in the private political dissonance for power. Washington is a highlight of this sequel with the ostensible nature of his character. Macrinus is flamboyant yet menacing and capable of unspeakable treachery as the true motives for his illusory actions are gradually revealed as the story unfolds. Washington delivers yet another masterful execution as an actor in a lead role. Even before the movie was released, there was already some Oscar buzz circulating around Washington’s role in Gladiator II.

While Gladiator II is laudable continuation of the Gladiator story, it does fall short of being as great as the original. The villainous emperors, Geta and Caracalla, are nowhere near as enthralling as the original’s antihero, Commodus. We were spoiled by a once-in-a-lifetime exceptional performance from Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix played Commodus so good you probably hated him in real life after your initial viewing in 2000. Quinn and Hechinger did great with what they were given but their characters were not as well fleshed out as Commodus. Perhaps that was the biggest issue with Gladiator II. There was so much story to tell with so many moving parts and not enough time to tell the story. Like Scott’s prior film, Napoleon, there is rumored to be a four hour cut of the film that may be released in the future. Another setback of the film is the CGI in certain scenes, mainly the fight sequences. One scene in particular stands out with CGI monkeys that looked noticeably unfinished during a gladiator fight scene. While Mescal deserves praise for doing his best to fill Crowe’s shoes, sadly those shoes did not quite fit. Again, Mescal fell victim to poor storytelling where events with particular characters in the film seemed rushed and underdeveloped. Despite the outstanding performance, it would be hard to top Crowe’s Oscar winning portrayal as Maximus. Finally, Scott did not quite stick the landing as he did with the previous film. A huge battle that the film was setting up as the climatic finale in the film instead unfolded in a very unsatisfactory manner.

Despite Gladiator II falling short of being as great as the first Gladiator, it does include all the common characteristics from the first film that make it worth a watch in theater, preferably in IMAX. Magnificent performances from the cast. The themes of perseverance and bravery from our protagonist. The depths of betrayal people sink in order to gain and maintain power. Awesomely bloody gladiator fight sequences. You do passionately root for our hero and against the tyrannical emperors. However, the execution in storytelling unfortunately did not come close to being as fulfilling as the first watch of Gladiator in 2000. There were a few too many aspects of this sequel that felt too recognizable. With that being said, the good ultimately outweighs the bad. Plenty of fantastically gory and sometimes suspenseful gladiator battles. Plenty of amazing acting from the ensemble cast to draw you in the story. Clever camera work to immerse you in Ancient Rome. As a director, Scott is hit or miss, especially when it comes to sequels. Gladiator II leans more on the side of a hit falling just shy of greatness. The movie is definitely a great way to kick off the holiday week with friends and family. Slated to be one of the year’s biggest and most successful films commercially, Gladiator II certainly has enough going for it to give the film a legitimate fighting chance at the box office.