GLADIATOR ll

Review: After his home is conquered by the powerful emperors of Rome, Lucius must enter the Colosseum and looks to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Director: Ridley Scott
Actors: Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, Connie Nielsen, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Derek Jacobi, Yuval Gonen, Rory McCann, Peter Mensah, Matt Lucas, Tim McInnerny, Alexander Karim, Lior Raz, Line Ancel, Alec Utgoff, Lee Charles and Chidi Ajufo
Year: 2024
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama and History
Conclusion: 4/5
Because of the scale and quality of the cinematography, especially in the battle scenes, this is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen in order to be fully appreciated. Apparently, the Colosseum was reconstructed on a 1-to-1 scale with thousands of extras providing the real crowds. Following the first battle, Acacius says in Latin “Vae victis” which translates to “Woe to the defeated”. Apparently, a second Gladiator film had been talked about since 2001 and there have been several disagreements and problems to overcome. For example, musician Nick Cave was invited by Russell Crowe and Sir Ridley Scott to submit a script for a second Gladiator film. (Apparently, the Nick Cave script is actually available somewhere online). The standout feature of Gladiator II is the fantastic performances by Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal. It is Denzel Washington who carries the whole film and I do think that this is his best performance so far in his career. Here is a bit of trivia for you: when Russell Crowe took on the role of Gladiator he was 36 years old. Paul Mescal is 28 years old. Paul Mescal had to do a lot of body training in order to prepare for this role and there are a lot of scenes with Paul Mescal with his shirt off! Ridley Scott is an old-school film maker and this film feels like a reminder of the great days of the Hollywood epics. He decided to build real sets rather than rely on visual effects and computer graphics. So the scale of the production is breath taking. In the true Ridley Scott tradition this is a very violent film with lots of blood splattered. This is the biggest role yet of Paul Mescal’s career and it is fantastic to see that after his huge successes in television and stage work he is able to fill the screen in a massive blockbuster such as this.