Gladiator II

Is it daunting to make a sequel to one of this century's first action epics? Or is it more daunting to make a sequel to the first film this century to win the Oscar for Best Picture? You'll have to do both when you make a sequel to Gladiator. Fortunately, Gladiator II has enough spectacle to entertain you if singing witches aren't your thing. Now, on to the arena.

Ridley Scott returns to direct this instalment, which begins when the Roman Legions of General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) invade Numidia. Hanno (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Arishat (Yuval Gonen), defend Numidia as part of its army; however, she is killed, and he is enslaved with his comrades. In Rome, Hanno's ferocity against an army of feral baboons gets the attention of power broker Macrinus (Denzel Washington), who buys him as a gladiator. Hanno decides to play the games of the mad emperors Geta & Caracella (Joseph Quinn & Fred Hechinger) if it means getting the chance to kill Acacius.

Eventually, much like Maximus (Russell Crowe in the first film), Hanno becomes a star of the Colosseum. Moreover, Acacius's wife Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, one of the few returning stars) recognizes him as her long-lost son Lucius, and reveals his father was Maximus himself. At the same time, Lucilla, Acacius and several Roman Senators (including the other returning star, Derek Jacobi, as Gracchus) plot to depose the emperors. Macrinus, however, has his own scheme to takeover Rome and exact revenge for his enslavement by the Empire. Lucius, who grows to believe his father's "Dream of Rome," forgives Acacius and rises up against Macrinus. As you can tell, there's a lot that happens in this movie.

I'm not really going to waste time nitpicking about the historical inaccuracies, as a few people already have. However, it's kind of interesting that Lucilla's conspiracy is strikingly similar to the one the real Lucilla plotted against her brother, Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix in the first film). As for other inaccuracies, like Lucius fighting a gladiator riding a rhinoceros and a later naumachia with sharks, are supposed to be cool. I was admittedly entertained by the spectacle; that doesn't mean I lack any of my own nitpicks. 

Lucius makes for a decent swords-and-sandals variant of King Arthur. Yes, his character arc is recognizably Campbellian, but he has a few strong moments of his own. Those moments include his contemptuous reciting of Virgil to the Emperors and his ultimate forgiveness of Acacius. We barely see him with Arishat, but his nightmare of seeing her in the afterlife is memorably haunting. Acacius, meanwhile, is a bit more compelling as we see how weary he is of conquest after the Numidia campaign. Lucilla is quite sympathetic as she tries to reconnect with Lucius, but Gracchus barely does much in the film. A few other memorable actors include Matt Lucas as the Colosseum MC; Alexander Karim as gladiator-turned-doctor Ravi; and Peter Mensah as Jugurtha, the Numidia chieftain.

This leaves me with the villains. Geta is much saner than his brother, Caracella, who is practically Caligula. Despite their shared villainy, Geta is quite sympathetic when Macrinus manipulates Caracella into killing him. Caracella's eventual death by Macrinus himself is as unnerving as his own villainy. Speaking of Macrinus, he is another memorably charismatic villain in Washington's resume. If Washington's going to win his third Oscar, as so many critics think he will, then I think Macrinus's tranquil fury as he tells Lucilla his past will seal the deal. That tranquil fury perfectly explodes in his final, memorable battle with Lucius.

Scott brings back plenty of his usual collaborators, many of whom were either nominated for or won Oscars for the first film. Those include Janty Yates (costume designer; this time with David Crossman), Arthur Max (production designer), Neil Corbould (visual effects supervisor) and John Mathieson (cinematographer). We get plenty of marvelous battles, both within and outside the Colosseum, while the digitally assisted restoration of Ancient Rome is flawless. I can't say the same about the baboons, who were rendered with painfully obvious CGI, but at least they were still unnerving. Its use of royal purple was striking, as are the ghoulish appearances of the mad emperors. The sound mix is wonderful, while the score by Harry Gregson-Williams is pretty good, even if I prefer some of Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard's compositions from the first film. Maybe it will grow on me.

Don't expect historical accuracy in Gladiator II and you'll do fine. It's a blockbuster, not a documentary, and it's a pretty good blockbuster. It's a lot more tonally consistent than Scott's last few films, and at 148 minutes, it only feels slightly overlong. I'm sure there's a good documentary somewhere if you want some historical accuracy. But if you want entertainment, particularly outside the Land of Oz, then I think this movie will do nicely, in this life and the next. That's it for now.