‘Gladiator 2’ is entertaining enough, but unnecessary (Movie Review)

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Get your Roman Holiday started this weekend with “Gladiator II”! We return to the Coliseum with new games, stronger action, and Denzel Washington chewing up every bit of scenery he’s in.

The story centers around Rome on the brink of collapse. Paul Mescal is Lucias, a mysterious soldier in the last free city in Africa whose life is upended when the Roman Empire, led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) kills his wife and takes him to Rome to be part of a new group of Gladiators ushered in by Macrinus (Denzel Washington).

Rome has not yet seen the dreams of a free society from the original Gladiator, and it is being run by two Emperors, Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). But a revolution is brewing, and Lucias is at the center of it all and will have to decide to get revenge or freedom.

Ridley Scott will always be regarded as one of the greatest directors of all time. He’s prolific in his volume of work, and for him to still bring out this kind of epic scale is so cool. I’m not always a fan of his films, but I admire the risks and the artistry in all of his movies. With “Gladiator II”, Scott continues to bring incredible action and larger-than-life production, but something is missing that was there in the original that isn’t here.

Paul Mescal’s character is a tough role, and the shoes left by Russell Crowe are tough ones to fill. Mescal still brings charm to the character, but due to the writing, there’s not much for him to sink his teeth into (aside from maybe a feral baboon). There are so many plates spinning at once and many characters to introduce through him, that not enough time is spent on building Lucius.

Pedro Pascal’s character is the man Lucius has his revenge set on, but he doesn’t know that Marcus Acacius shares a deep connection to him. It’s always great to see Pascal and I would love to have seen a film about Marcus Acacius, I feel there’s a lot to mine from that character that goes unexplored here. It almost feels like Pascal was underused. Connie Nielsen returns as Lucilla and other legacy characters to help tie this into the original “Gladiator”.

Denzel Washington as Macrinus was the big reason I was won over in the end. I love him tapping back into his “Training Day” style and delivering a unique and engaging performance. It’s clear Ridley Scott just let him do whatever he wanted, and the film is better for that. Once you realize Macrinus’s motivations and backstory, the film takes on a new level and to me, things improved. The problem is that it is a tough journey to get to with a lot of nonsensical writing.

The script is nonsensical. Nobody feels authentic, and the story takes a while to kick in. Historical inaccuracies aside, “Gladiator II” feels like “The Force Awakens” in that we are getting a watered-down version of a story we’ve already seen, and a heavy reliance on nostalgia for the original film makes the sequel unable to stand on its own. The CGI and visual effects, particularly on the animals, take away any suspense in the film because it’s so clear none of the actors are interacting with a real creature, so the emotions aren’t authentic.

Overall, I was entertained enough with “Gladiator II” but still found the sequel unnecessary. If you want to check it out and are already interested, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, but for fresh audiences unfamiliar with the original, I would recommend watching that first to better emphasize my points here. This by no means is a bad film, but it is just an okay film.

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