Review: Gladiator II

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Are you not entertained? For the most part, I was, during Ridley Scott's sequel to his 2000 blockbuster and multiple Oscar winner "Gladiator," although the film is guilty of the excesses displayed by the emperors in both films.

To be sure, this sequel is a much campier and gorier - but not nearly as effective - sword and sandal epic than the original. This time, there's not just one - but two - deranged emperors, beheadings, fights with large monkeys, Denzel Washington delivering a speech with a decapitated head in hand, and - I kid you not - a scene involving sharks in the Coliseum.

The film opens with the Roman army attacking a colony where a refugee from Rome named Hanno (Paul Mescal) lives peacefully with his wife. When his spouse is killed and his colony and captured by a Roman general named Marcus Acacias (Pedro Pascal), he vows revenge.

Hanno is taken to Rome, where he quickly catches the eye of Macrinus (Washington), who trains gladiators and seemingly has a knack for swaying influence in Roman politics. There could be an entire film about Macrinus that would have been more compelling than some of the goings-on in "Gladiator II," which is partly due to his character being such a sinister figure of devious machinations and partly because Washington does such an effective job of - and is clearly having a great time - portraying him.

It's no great secret that Hanno is not just an ordinary warrior who has managed to end up in the Coliseum. He's the son of Maximum (Russell Crowe), the hero of the first "Gladiator" film, and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), who happens to be involved romantically with Acacias, just to make matters more complicated.

Hanno agrees to fight in the Coliseum after Macrinus promises to find a way that he can one day face Acacias in battle there, assuming that he survives. Meanwhile, Macrinus has plans of his own to influence the Caligula-esque young emperors portrayed by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger.

Much of the film sees various plots being set in motion - one involving Acacias and Lucilla attempting to overthrow the throne by bringing the general's army to Rome, another involving Hanno's aim to get his revenge, yet another in which Macrinus tries to manipulate everyone so that he can get closer to the throne, and there's even a friendship between Hanno and the doctor (Alexander Karim) who tends to his wounds after each fight.

And yeah, as I mentioned, there's a scene in which the gladiators battle each other in the Coliseum while it's filled with sharks. No further explanation is necessary or available because at no point do the filmmakers even try to explain how this is humanly possible.

Despite some occasional silliness, "Gladiator II" is a mostly enjoyable spectacle. There's a sequence late in the film in which Hanno tries to rouse his gladiators to battle by talking about how they can one day achieve the Rome of their dreams, and not the one in which they inhabit that is marked by cruelty and corruption. Let's just say that hit a little close to home at the moment. 

So, no, "Gladiator II" is not as good as the original by any stretch of the imagination. But as far as Hollywood spectacles go, it's amusing enough and very expensive looking - and it has the benefit of a great Denzel Washington performance.