Gladiator 2

Films that tries to capture different time periods in history can be very fascinating for many different reasons. We may get a look into a completely different society that functioned quite differently from what things do in modern times. There are of course certain details that we still use today like they did in ancient history, we still make hand made objects and hand made clothes just like they did back in those days. The difference is of course back then they could not mass produce products like we can in modern factories. I really didn´t get interested into history until i was 20 years old when i travelled to Greece for the first time in the spring of 1997. This was when i went to see the the Cave Of Zeus that´s located on Mount Ida on the island of Crete. Before i went here i didn´t really know much at all about Greek Mythology because i never really got into reading much about it. After i did this visit to the Cave Of Zeus i became more fascinated regarding the history of Zeus and actually checked out some books in my hometown library when i got back to Sweden. You could say that i have Greece to thank for inspiring me to learn more about history and since then i started to check out more regarding history in each country i visited on vacation. 3 years after my first visiti to Greece there was a very big movie premiere worldwide of the historical action film Gladiator in the year of 2000 from legendary director Ridley Scott. A film that turned out to be the best acting performance i had seen actor Russel Crowe do so far in his career at that time and i also loved the performance from actor Joaquin Phoenix. The gladiator scenes were very impressive, the costume design looked really good and in general this turned out to be a very powerful film to experience. Still until this day Gladiator is one of my personal favourite films when it comes to telling stories connected to the history of the Roman Empire. Gladiator is one of those films you should see if you have not seen it, still to this day it looks really good. For many years we hear news about a possible sequel and for quite some time it seemed like we wouldn´t get one, at least not with Russel Crowe included into the cast. So here we are with the official sequel Gladiator 2 with brand new characters and director Ridley Scott back as the director. Is this a worthy sequel to the classic film Gladiator or does this sequel fail to live up to the same quality as the original film have? 

Sixteen years after Marcus Aurelius ( Richard Harris ) death, Rome is ruled by corrupt twin emperors Greta ( Joseph Quinn ) and Caracalla ( Fred Hechinger ). In the North African kingdom of Numida, the refugee Hanno ( Paul Mescal ) lives with his wife Arishat ( Yuval Gonen ). The Roman army led by General Acacius ( Pedro Pascal ) invades and conquers the kingdom, killing Arishat and enslaving Hanno and the other survivors. The slaves are taken to Ostia, where the Romans pit them against baboons to advertise them as potential gladiators. Hanno savagely kills a baboon, impressing the stable master Macrinus ( Denzel Washington ), who promises Hanno an oppurtunity to kill Acacius if he wins enough fights in Rome. There is no other option for Hanno, this may be his only way out to regain his freedom.

Knowing how many people worldwide who loves the original film, it must have been a big pressure on director Ridley Scott since he knows the fans will not accept a sequel unless it feels like a worthy sequel. To be completely honest i didn´t keep my own expectations that high to this film because i didn´t want to be too disappointed in case it would have turned out to be terrible. Luckily i will say, Gladiator 2 is not as bad as some of us fans of the original film thought it could be. There are a number of factors that make Gladiator 2 a solid sequel so let´s start to go through some of the details that this film does well. I personally feel that the costume design in this film is well made, if we are thinking about the time period where this film takes place. It feels like these are people living during the Roman empire and the costumes are clearly meant to capture that historical time period. The gladiator scenes are well made and they actually made some refreshing updates on some of the gladiator fights, where especially one scene makes a big impact with sharks inside the arena. I feel that this is a good idea to try and add something different and not just repeat the same concept too much. That way you still keep the gladiator battle fun but do a different take on the survival concept. You know sometimes when you may think the hero may be the best part of the film? Not in Gladiator 2, i will definetely say that the best character of this film is the evil Macrinus ( played really good by actor Denzel Washington ). Each scene that Denzel Washington deliver dialogue pick up this film to a completely different quality level, and that clearly shows how much effort he made to make this character feel so powerful on the big screen. So what doesn´t work as good in this sequel? I would say the lead character Lucius ( played by actor Paul Mescal ) is not as powerful as Russel Crowe was in the original film´s character Maximus. Im not saying Paul is terrible in the lead role, but he doesn´t match the same screen magic as Russel Crowe had in the gladiator scenes. I know some people have complained about there are some historical faults in this film, i personally don´t have a problem with that since there are plenty of films that does the same and still turn out to be entertaining. Gladiator 2 is a action adventure that will most likely please you if you love films that takes place during the Roman empire and appreciate a lot of violence. Director Ridley Scott proves once more he is a very talented film maker and this is definetly a genre he is passionate about. If you want epic sword battles, muscles, beautful locations and beautiful women as well then this is the film for you. Gladiator 2 knows what audience it was made for and this is definetely a film for historical fans in general.

Rating: DDD