By Marc Peoples
Before the review, how about a quick history lesson? Do you know that Ancient Rome inspired a lot of New York City’s architecture?
The entire Croton Aqueduct, including the High Bridge over the Harlem River, was inspired by the Roman Aqueduct, and the Academic Library at Columbia University in Harlem is modeled after Rome’s Pantheon. Another similarity is Ancient Rome used to be an asylum for foreigners, including brigands, shepherds, and runaway slaves, just like the New York State is for immigrants.
Now the history lesson is over let’s talk about Gladiator II.
Gladiator II is the highly anticipated sequel to the historical epic Gladiator that took the world by storm 24 years ago. Ridley Scott returns as director along with cinematographer John Mathieson.
The story takes place 16 years after the original film. Lucius, the now grown-up son of Maximus and Lucilla, seeks revenge as a gladiator after his home is invaded by the Roman Army. Lucius fights for Macrinus, a former slave who plans to overthrow the corrupted twin emperors Caracalla and Geta.
First are the positives. On the technical side, the movie is great. The production and costume design has never made Rome look any better. This one may be among the best this year, so no surprises if they’re nominated for next year’s Oscars.
John Mathieson deserves credit for creating long shots during battle scenes. During the action, there are not a lot of cuts, and you can see the fight scenes are well-choreographed. Some shots even look like they were taken straight from Roman paintings.
Paul Mascal had big shoes to fill after being cast in the lead role. Mascal replaces the original Lucius actor, Spencer Treat Clark (who is still an actor today). Russell Crowe gave an excellent performance in the original film. So excellent it earned him a Best Actor award at the Oscars. Mascal is a good actor. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the on-screen presence like Crowe. That being said, his performance was good enough as a successor and a believable hero.
“Denzel Washington has the best performance in the film …”
Denzel Washington has the best performance in the film, but it’s not the best in his career. It’s obvious he had fun playing an antagonistic role. He had more on-screen command than Mascal. He may get a Best Supporting Actor nomination for this role.
Pedro Pascal portrays Roman general Acacius. This is not his best performance either, but he does play a complicated character torn between loyalty and duty, and Connie Nielsen returns as Lucilla. She didn’t have much to do, but it was great to see her again.
The biggest takeaway from the film is the battle scenes. Ridley Scott is almost 87 years old, and yet he still creates some of the best battle sequences in film. From the naval battles to the Colosseum to the one-on-one sword fights, Scott still shows no one can make sword-and-sandal epics on his level.
Now, the negatives. Another artist who had big shoes to fill was film composer Harry Gregson-Williams. Williams takes over from Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, who scored the first film. Zimmer and Gerrard’s score is iconic and nearly flawless. The music has even been used in film trailers over the years. Williams, who is a great film composer, does a good job with his score, but it’s not nearly as memorable as the original’s. He does bring in cues from the original for nostalgia, but it doesn’t hit at all.
Some of the battles involved CGI animals, and they looked CGI, especially the baboons and the sharks, they could have looked better.
My last criticism is that the story felt too similar to the original. Lucius’ journey is almost the same as Maximus.’ Some would say it’s a retelling of the original film and the screenwriters couldn’t come up with anything new.
We all can agree that Gladiator never needed a sequel. So, does that make Gladiator II a bad movie? No. It’s pretty good, but not nearly as good as the original. Still, it’s a good time at the movies, and it’s one of Ridley Scott’s better films in years. It’s currently competing with the musical Wicked, so there’s no better time than being at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9.
If you’re interested in Roman architecture inspired New York City watch this video.
Marc Peoples
Marc Peoples is a writer, film, and game enthusiast with a full range of electronic or digital games experience, who lives on the West Coast in Los Angeles, CA.
He graduated with honors from the Los Angeles Film School (LAFS), where he studied film and screenwriting. www.linkedin.com, www.instagram.com www.muckrack.com
Photo credit: 1) gladiator.movie 2) Photo. 3) YouTube.com
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