Denzel dominates in ‘Gladiator 2’
Maestro Ridley Scott is enjoying a delightfully prolific streak in his 80s. Just last year he delivered his epic “Napoleon,” which then had its near-four-hour director’s cut released earlier this year. He returns to cinemas this holiday season with “Gladiator 2,” sequel to his monster hit of 2000 that made a star out of Russell Crowe, unleashed a slew of copycat “swords ‘n sandals” wannabes, and joined the proud shelves of dad movies everywhere.
Twenty-three years after the first “Gladiator,” the new man of the Colosseum is Paul Mescal, recently Oscar-nominated for his blistering turn in “Aftersun.” This is his highest-profile project and role yet. If he’s lucky lightning may strike twice for this now-franchise. Mescal was cherry-picked for this project by Scott after he’d seen him in his breakout role in the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s “Normal People.” Joining Mescal are Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian,” “The Last of Us”), Joseph Quinn (“Stranger Things,” “A Quiet Place: Day One”), Fred Hechinger (“The White Lotus”), and Denzel Washington, reuniting with Scott for the first time since 2007’s “American Gangster.” Amazingly, two actors from the first “Gladiator” are back: Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi, who in 2000 already had a head of white hair.
Promotional material already spoiled some details, like the fact that Mescal plays the grown-up Lucius from the first movie, son of Lucilla (Nielsen). It’s also confirmed that, as only implied before, he is the son of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). Turns out, after the events of the first movie, Lucius was sent away for his own protection, as Lucilla feared her son would be a target since he had a claim to the throne. Alas, he cannot escape the long arm of Rome, and in the opening action sequence the city he has come to know as home is sacked by General Acacius (Pascal), who takes Lucius prisoner. He is purchased by Macrinus (Washington), an ex-gladiator himself, who sees in Lucius a familiar rage that should serve him well in the arena. On the way to glory, Lucius becomes embroiled with different factions vying for power.
One of cinema’s best shooters
Scott remains one of cinema’s best shooters, as evidenced by the eye-opening (and eye-gouging) action sequences in “Gladiator 2.” From the attack on Numidia at the beginning, featuring longships with trebuchets; to upgraded battles in the Colosseum, with baboons, rhinos, and even sharks in a water-filled naval battle recreation, it rivals some of the sequences in other 2024 standouts like Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part Two.”
Where it’s found wanting is the screenplay. Ostensibly a retelling of the first movie, it is sadly unsuccessful at capturing the epic emotional arc of Maximus. Perhaps this is to be expected when paring down a reported four-hour first cut, which you can sense when some scenes feel like they’re missing connective tissue. Perhaps it’s also because this story feels a little overstuffed. There are more players trying to manipulate/exploit/maneuver Lucius for their own benefit, and more characters besides (actress May Calamawy’s entire role ended up on the cutting-room floor). There’s twice as many emperors! Besides the senate wanting to take power, there’s also Macrinus.
The other imbalance is Washington—and I mean this in a complimentary way. While Mescal is one of the most promising young actors of his generation, he is not yet (not in this role, anyway) blessed with the near-animal magnetism that radiates off a bona fide capital-S star. Crowe had it in his “Gladiator,” but Mescal here is more subdued, more internal, when we need big swinging operatic motions that befit the spectacle Lucius finds himself in.
But Denzel Washington is a star, and he is also one of the finest actors ever. When he is onscreen audiences are immediately drawn to him, and his performance provides much to lap up, from his mellifluous delivery (never mind no one else has his accent) to his very tactile, silken movements, predatory like a viper, daring anyone to look away. They can’t. There is a mercilessness to Washington here; if you do not up your game to meet him at his level, he will blow you out of the water, and that’s usually what happens. You can almost see the other performers so stunned by watching him do his thing in front of them that there’s a delay in their response. He captivates; he dominates the screen.
Even if unintended, “Gladiator 2” thus becomes the Denzel show, and if that holds no interest for you then this might not be your best pick to see this week. But if you want a good old-fashioned spectacle the way Hollywood seems to be making fewer of these days, look no further. Just don’t expect your spirit to soar as it did 24 years ago.
