About Gladiator II
| Title: | Gladiator II |
|---|---|
| Original Title: | Gladiator II |
| Plot: | Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead 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 strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people. |
| Cast: | Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger |
| Director: | Ridley Scott |
| Cinematography: | John Mathieson |
| Editor: | Sam Restivo |
Gladiator II
Tatsam Mukherjee
The Wire
Director Ridley Scott Goes Through the Motions, Retreading Old Ground
While the first one held attention with its striking performances, this one plays it safe.
What happens when you take one of the most irreverent filmmakers of our times, and force him to be sombre, sincere and melodramatic? The result is a film like Gladiator II. It’s not to say that the sequel doesn’t have the campy goodness of the original, especially in the turns by Denzel Washington playing Macrinus (a gladiator-turned-influential figure in Rome), Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger playing Emperor twins Geta and Caracalla (a more sadistic version of Romulus and Remus), but there’s something amiss.