Film Review- Gladiator 2

With sequels its usual for people to say “If you liked the first film, you’ll like this one” and in the case of Gladiator 2 that may be true if what you’re looking for is more of the same. This is not a sequel that tries to break new ground, preferring to run through a similar trajectory to that of the first film albeit with different characters and an even more heightened sense of the absurdity, decadence and brutality of the Roman Empire.

 

Wading through the action trying not to be Russell Crowe is Paul Mescal’s slave who becomes a gladiator though the film really seems more interested in Denzel Washington’s slippery Macrinus. The resulting movie, running for two- and three-quarter hours is certainly epic and often exciting yet doesn’t stray from the template established twenty four years go. It is better than Ridley Scott’s previous movie, Napoleon, and with some crazy Colosseum shenanigans, two mad Emperors and plenty of grisly combat scenes definitely worth the price of admission. We are entertained, sort of.

Rather like Napoleon, the film peaks early with a besieged city, in this case Numidia in North Africa, which the Roams seek to add to their burgeoning empire. Decorated General Acacius leads his fleet of ships to spectacularly capture the city, the battle demonstrating Ridley Scott’s ambitious scale that will dominate throughout the film. Scott always brings a strong sense of occasion and here we view the attack from every conceivable angle with exquisite sound design and a real sense of the canny Roman tactics that enable them to take the city.

We also follow a farmer how goes by the name of Hanno who is captured and sent to Rome where his prowess in test fights leads former slave turned slave owner Macrinus to buy him to serve as a Gladiator. Macrinus has wider ambitions though and uses Hanno to help further them. Essentially Hanno’s story mirrors that of Marcus Aurelius, the not so hard to work out twist being he is that man’s son Lucius smuggled away for a few decades. It is slightly incredulous for his life to more or less follow the same beats as his father’s but it does enable what is mostly a remount of the first film just with things taken further. It’s not just a bloodline Lucius shares- he is similarly single minded in aiming to fight back against the authorities and is able to take on anything hurled at him whether it be weathered rivals, bizarre dog/baboon hybrids or even- yes- sharks. He overcomes them all but is uninterested in rewards for himself focussed instead on revenge for the wrongs that have been done to him.

Paul Mescal has a very hard act to follow of course; Russell Crowe’s performance in the first film being a memorable modern classic, but I feel a trick was missed here. In dialogue and acting the character seems to have been given a Crowe-like persona whereas he would have benefitted from more individuality if he was his own man. There are some lines where you can imagine Crowe but it means Mescal never quite establishes this character as an individual. He nonetheless gives a committed performance which overcomes some of these issues by sheer charisma but he is not given the tools to make this as memorable a character as he should be.

We are definitely entertained by Denzel Washington even if Macrinus’ speedy rise to influence seems a little unlikely. Both in character and demeanour it is almost as if he dances around everyone else, nimbly outmanoeuvring them and admittedly getting the best lines. The actor relishes every second of screen time deploying a series of scowls and false smiles to get his way and I wouldn’t be surprised if an Oscar nomination results. The dual Emperors are fun too, sporting increasingly over caked make up and behaving like children. Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger give a lot of manic energy and its amusing to watch the reactions of the senators to their unhinged behaviour particularly when Caracalla gives his pet monkey a senior Senate position.

The character with the most potential though is General Acacius whom Pedro Pascal gives a world-weary quality. There’s quite a contrast between his outwardly bold approach to the battlefield and later declarations that he is weary of war. He tries to get the emperors to stop further expansions warning that the cost of them means people are starving. “Let them eat war!” is the response. His involvement in a plot to overthrow the terrible twosome is snuffed out too soon as far as the film is concerned. Acacius' character gives the film more perspective and I wish they’d kept him in the action for longer. The only major returning character is Connie Nielson as Lucilla who adds a feminine touch to an otherwise male dominated film thus standing out even if the plot isn’t really sure what to do with her towards the end.

The film is definitely as epic as you’d expect; apparently the Colosseum is a mostly a physical set built in a semi-circle and its crowds were there in real life rather than digitally and this definitely adds a heft to the proceedings. We may think the challenges faced by the gladiators unlikely yet these did all supposedly happen.  There are some hybrid dog/baboon creatures who would not be out of place in Scott’s other major franchise while a rhino does seem an awkward mount for a warrior but only the sharks in the flooded arena betray CGI origins. These trials do seem to have been designed to vary the action but are more of an awkward fit than a tiger or just other gladiators.

Scott also uses the tournaments to underscore the populace’s reactions to authority figures; the revolution that occurs near the end is fuelled partly by events in the arena. The crowd’s support can turn at any moment.  So, while the action is powerful and exceptionally well shot, it is the politics that truly engages as we follow the machinations away from the arena which have a different kind of tension to the fighting inside it though often end up in similar bloodshed.

Gladiator 2 is pacey and very well staged if a little too close to its predecessor to allow it to be more than a good copy rather than anything broader.