A movie that’s perhaps 15 years too late.

A man loses his home and his wife to the conquering Roman Empire. Enlisted as a gladiator, he seeks revenge. But his past will rise up to greet him, setting him on a different path.

Academy Award winning movie Gladiator was released in the year 2000, and was a revitalizing of the “sword and sandals” genre of Hollywood movies. It was a smash hit for director Ridley Scott and made leading man Russell Crowe a household name. It was a tight, concise story, with Scott’s attention to detail and visual flair, as well as a colossal score by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard.
Twenty-four years later, we have a sequel. Glibly titled Gladiator 2. Which follows sixteen years after the events of the first film, starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, and a returning Connie Nielsen. Directed by Ridley Scott, with a slightly different writing team, Gladiator 2: The Gladiatoring is… fine.

Which is perhaps more damning than saying it is outright bad. Considering the might of the first film, this sequel was surely aligned for similar greatness. That said, there was a long time rumour of a Gladiator 2 script involving Roman myths and time travel. So, maybe we should be grateful of this more regular state of affairs?

Gladiator 2: Strength and Honour, plays out much like its predecessor. We have our fallen hero become a gladiator: he is noticed in a pit fight; he earns respect in his first colosseum fight; he has a “tactical” battle; he has a brutal one-vs-one fight. There’s conspiratorial goings on that break up the action, as well as some half-hearted camaraderie between the gladiators themselves.
The new elements rest on Denzel Washington’s character Macrinus, a prideful man who buys gladiators. The machinations of Macrinus power the film along, as well as our two antagonists: the twin emperors. With them the “Fall of Rome” becomes a key theme in Gladiator 2: What We Do In Life. Unfortunately that does remind us of the misguided Megalopolis earlier this year. The emperors themselves are indeed vile and unpleasant, but are far more cartoonish than Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus ever was.

The film doesn’t start too gracefully. Any audience member can guess that our hero’s happy life is about to be destroyed, but when the wife’s dialogue is entirely ADR… Yeah, it is pretty obvious what is about to happen. The editor’s scissors can be detected in some scenes as well.

The grandest scene, and the scene that had most attention pre-release, is the Colosseum’s naval battle. This plays much like the tactical battle in the first film, with the hero rising to the forefront. It is weakened, though, as Paul Mescal’s character has no background in naval battle. Whereas Russell Crowe’s Maximus was an army general. It makes comparisons more readily defined, rather than simply enjoying the spectacle.

Still, there are excellent moments as well. An interior brawl between two men, cheered on by our psychopathic emperors, for example. All the powerful characters presented and, without exposition, we learn everything we need to know about them. Denzel Washington is of course excellent; he is excellent in everything. Although he does make the rest of the performances appear rigid by comparison.
The production value and visual fidelity is top tier. Expect nothing less from Ridley Scott; it matches the first film and perhaps rises above in some cases. CG is used extremely sparingly; with a lot of action appearing practical.

Overall, it is a good sequel. Whether it was ever necessary is another matter, but considering there is a glut of “unnecessary sequels” right now, we should agree that Gladiator 2 is a better example.