Review: 'Gladiator II' has swords, sandals, but little soul

Paramount Pictures, 2024.

"Gladiator II," standing on its own, is a serviceable sword-and-sandal action movie. It's when compared to its 2000 predecessor, "Gladiator" - a film that was nominated for five Oscars, winning for Best Picture and Best Actor - where it seems falls short, unable to capture the depth or gravitas that made the original a modern epic.

Grade: C+

The first film told the story of Maximus (Oscar-winner Russell Crowe), a betrayed Roman general turned slave, who rises as a gladiator to avenge his family’s murder and confront the corrupt emperor who wronged him. As Maximus famously screamed, "Are you not entertained?" from the center of the Colosseum, the film itself grappled with themes of violence as it relates to mass entertainment and human morality.

"Gladiator II" is a sequel in that it follows the young son of Maximus, now a grown warrior, Lucius (Paul Mescal), and his adventures as a gladiator, like his father before him...it also has a few familiar faces from the first film, like Lucius's mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, given nothing to do) and Roman senator, Gracchus (Derek Jacobi). But it is not a spiritual companion to the first movie. It doesn't ponder whether or not we are or should be entertained by open bloodshed, it figures it already knows the answer to that question.

Lucius has some of his own avenging to do. Now at the head of Rome are two spoiled young brothers, Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). A sly and ambitious slave trader known as Macrinus (Denzel Washington) sees the weakness of the crumbling Roman Empire and looks to exploit it for his own personal gain. He "acquires" Lucius, who recently saw his home toppled by the Roman army and General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), and who, like his father, is not interested in giving up his dignity simply because he is a slave.

Beyond these returning characters and some recurring flashbacks to Maximus and the first film, "Gladiator II" is only loosely connected to what came before. Paul Mescal, a critical darling who landed a Best Actor Oscar nomination last year for the little-seen "Aftersun," is not quite the household name, nor does he command the screen in the same way that Russell Crowe did. From the protagonist on down, "Gladiator II" feels like a pale carbon copy of the film that came before, with nothing new to say, and with very little envelope-pushing.

Now take everything underneath the surface away, and "Gladiator II" can still be an entertaining divergence. It does have well-choreographed action, blood-and-guts, sword-fighting and a worthy villain in Denzel's scene-chewing monster, Macrinus.

But if you are going to take a Best Picture winning title and slap a "II" on the end of it, people are going to expect more. Something elevated. Something worthy.

​This is not that.

Grade: C+

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama.
Run Time: 2 hours 28 minutes.
Rated R.

Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger.

Directed by Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Thelma & Louise," "Black Hawk Down," "The Martian," "American Gangster," "House of Gucci," "Napoleon").

"Gladiator II" is in theaters as of Friday, November 22nd, 2024.