Not long after director Ridley Scott's original Gladiator was released in 2000, star Russell Crowe approached singer-songwriter Nick Cave to write a sequel to the Oscar-winning hit. Although Crowe's Roman military commander and gladiator, Maximus Decimus Meridius, dies a glorious death at the end of the movie, Crowe wanted a way to return.
So Cave wrote one of the most infamous unproduced screenplays in Hollywood history, featuring Maximus making his way through the afterlife, battling gods, and eventually becoming a sort of avatar for war and violence across the entirety of human history.
It's not surprising that Cave's bizarre vision never made it to the screen, but it's also tough not to wish for something bolder while watching the version of Gladiator II that Scott finally did make. To Scott's credit, the long-awaited sequel features its share of out-there moments, but far too much of it is a bland retread of the original, with star Paul Mescal failing to live up to Crowe's mesmerizing performance as Maximus.
Mescal plays the grown-up version of Lucius Verus, the son of Maximus and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen). Lucius has been living in exile for 15 years since the events of Gladiator, when Lucilla sent him away to protect him from forces loyal to her late brother, the deranged Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix).
Although Gladiator ended with Commodus' death and the promise of a more democratic Rome, apparently none of that came to pass. Rome is now ruled by a pair of equally deranged twin emperors, Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn). They send their top general, Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), to conquer the African territory of Numidia, where Lucius has made a new life for himself. Like his father before him, Lucius is captured and sold into slavery, and his skills as a fighter soon make him the most formidable threat in the gladiatorial arena.
Mescal, who's given strong performances in low-key dramas like Aftersun and All of Us Strangers, always seems out of place as the supposedly fierce warrior. It doesn't help that Scott frequently throws in flashback clips of the original movie, emphasizing how brilliant Crowe was as Maximus. The characters, too, are in awe of Maximus, repeating some of his iconic lines as words of wisdom that have now been passed down across generations. The result is a movie that is constantly reminding viewers of something better they could be watching instead.
Pascal (who is in seemingly every other high-profile project in Hollywood) is similarly underwhelming as the conflicted Acacius. Nielsen, the only major actor to return from the first movie, mostly looks lost. That all makes it even more thrilling whenever Denzel Washington appears onscreen as Macrinus, a onetime slave who has risen to become a behind-the-scenes operator dealing in gladiators and other questionable commodities.
At first Macrinus seems like a devious but helpful mentor for Lucius, but as his grand plan comes into focus, he emerges as the movie's real villain, an ambitious and cruel manipulator who'll do whatever it takes to amass power. Washington looks like he's having a blast as the ruthless, smooth-talking, shockingly sexy agent of chaos, and the movie completely deflates whenever he's not around.
Even with its dull story and duller protagonist, Gladiator II still generates some excitement during its action scenes. As in the first movie, Scott stages a thrilling opening battle and multiple brutal, intense fights in the arena. Never one to be concerned with historical accuracy, Scott offers up a scene of the flooded Colosseum filled with sharks, as the gladiators engage in combat aboard boats and try not to fall in the water and get eaten. Earlier, Lucius faces off against giant feral baboons that are barely distinguishable from mythological monsters.
More of that Cave-style craziness would have served Gladiator II well, but Scott spends far too much time on the plodding interpersonal drama and the characters' rote inner conflicts. As a spectacle, Gladiator II is passable at best, with special effects that look no better and no worse than the CGI of nearly 25 years ago. As an engaging drama — one that could theoretically win Oscars — it's a bust. Only Washington provides the kind of energy that lives up to the original. After all this time, the most that Scott can come up with is a mediocre echo of what he's already accomplished.
Gladiator II
