“Gladiator II” is an entertaining seldom-rare franchise revival done right
Warning: This review contains spoilers.
“Gladiator II” premiered on Nov. 22 and grossed $106 million on its opening weekend. Paul Mescal plays Maximus’ son, Hanno/Lucius; Denzel Washington plays Macrinus; Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius; Connie Nelson returns as Princess Lucilla, Lucius’ mother and Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger star as the mad emperor twinsGeta and Caracalla, respectively.
“Gladiator II” is my new Roman Empire. It tells the beautiful yet terrifying tragedy of a legacy’s rise and fall. Considering the 24-year difference between the two releases, sequels like “Gladiator II” are rarely as successful as their predecessors. Everything about the movie is intricate and layered — a testament to Ridley Scott’s directing chops.
In “Gladiator” (2000), Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, perishes with the dream of a version of Rome where all the people are free and slavery and tyranny are abolished. Come “Gladiator II,” Rome is under the rule of Emperors Geta and Caracalla who lust for blood and conquest. This effort is heralded by Acacius, who is revealed to be the husband of Lucilla, the daughter of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Maximus’s lover.
The opening sequence depicts Hanno readying the Numidian troops for the incoming Roman invasion. The directing captures the barbarity and grit of soldiers at war who are not holding back any punches. Arrows, cannons and blood fly all across the battlefield. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, Lucius watches Acacius shoot an arrow into his wife’s heart.
Hanno and the Numidians lose to the Romans, and the prisoners of war are transported to the Roman Colosseum to be slaves. Their only way to survive — let alone be free — is to become gladiators and fight in the arena.
Mescal shines as Hanno/Lucius. In every scene, Mescal embodies his character’s tenacious spirit and rage for all that Rome has taken from him. From his fight against the Roman invasion and the monsters in the arena to all the men that Rome throws at him, all the action scenes are engaging and reminiscent of its time. It’s ruthless, rough, riveting and in line with “Gladiator.” The film’s gruesomeness conveys the tension between those in power and those who are not; those in power don’t worry about burying those beneath them, even if it means killing them.
Mescal not only masterfully captures Hanno/Lucius’s physicality but also his aching heart. His mannerisms aid the audience in grasping why the movie revolves around him, with his stiffness reflecting that he is a product of Rome: willing to hurt and kill for survival — much like the cold, callous souls around him. Rome is rich with deception, politics and betrayal, and Hanno is an unfortunate prisoner of war caught in the midst of it all. His hatred for Rome shown in the opening scene is not merely because of its endless conquests, but also due to his frustration in his inability to condemn tyranny.
At first, “Gladiator II” appears to be a story about a man who is suffering under Rome’s oppressive rulers yet is destined to uplift both the city and himself. But, through the not-so-blatant reveal of his identity, it’s not only his destiny that will ensure his and Rome’s survival, but also his legacy. This makes “Gladiator II” all the more valuable and worthy of being a sequel.
It’s hard to choose a stand-out scene of Mescal’s performance since he dominates the screen at every opportunity. In Hanno’s first fight in front of the emperors, his brashness is as clear as day, with the bloodthirsty emperors chanting for them to kill each other adding to the scene. The fight is introduced as a hand-to-hand spar — a warm-up for the Colosseum fight — but the emperors declare that it will be a sword fight to the death. After a brutal slaughter, Emperor Geta congratulates Hanno but turns sour when he spits verses of a prophecy from his father’s time.
What truly makes the movie so interesting is the characters’ layers and intricacies. Since Caesar, Rome has been subject to political and literal backstabbing. The movie echoes the viciousness and might of the Roman Empire’s reputation with its brutal fight scenes and cruel characters.
Hanno is a strong character who is impossible not to root for, even before his true identity is revealed. He’s an underdog from the very beginning who first seeks vengeance for his wife’s murder. But his rage is not born from his loss; it is a part of who he is at his core and it is a driving force of his efforts at survival. He is a vicious fighter in the arena, biting the monkeys as they did him and insisting on bloodshed instead of spars in his training. When he unexpectedly reunites with his mother for the first time since he was given up and sent away by her due to him potentially being threatened by the political state of Rome at the time (he was a secret heir to the throne, born Lucius Aurelius), he lashes out and tells her that he is only a gladiator and nothing more. Now revealed to be her son, Lucius, he can’t bear to look at her because her husband, Acacius, is the man who killed his wife and perpetrated Rome’s tyranny. When Macrinus picks him to be a gladiator after seeing his fury in a fight, Lucius agrees only if Macrinus will let him kill Acacius.
It turns out that Acacius is not as callous as the emperors or the viewer is led to believe. The emperors use Lucilla as a bargaining chip to have him do as they’d like. In actuality, Lucilla and Acacius want to overthrow the emperors, end the limitless conquests and restore Rome to its former glory. Acacius presents himself as a humble man, but the emperors’ greed and brutality prevent him from being seen as such. You go from seeing Acacius as a clear-as-day antagonist to a man bristled by the weight of war and politics who tries to do the right thing for his country. Even when Lucius attempts to kill him on the final day of the celebratory games, he is not mad. Acacius helps Lucilla in her attempts to save Lucius, offers the soldiers his respect in the arena before slaughtering them and surrenders to Lucius so he can kill him and give Rome a chance to be saved.
It is at this moment where everything changes. From the start, Lucius wants nothing more than to kill Acacius as he has no intention of giving or losing anything else to Rome. When he is granted this opportunity to kill Acacius in the arena after the twin emperors discover Acacius’s plot and Acacius will not fight him, Lucius decides to amend his original motives. He shouts to the arena and emperors that he will not be enslaved any longer and refuses to kill Acacius. Instead, Lucius forgives Acacius for killing his wife and all the damage he has done, seeing that they are not so different after all — merely puppets on a grandiose stage.
However, the emperors still demand a bloodbath for the crowd’s amusement. They order the arena’s archers to shoot countless arrows at Acacius, killing him.
It is revealed the emperors are pawns to the mastermind behind everything: Macrinus. Macrinus is presented as a savior to Lucius; he is the one who plucks him from the masses and takes him under his wing, promising him a chance to be an esteemed gladiator. He tells Lucius that his rage is something special that will carry him forward.
Macrinus takes the ancient proverb “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” to a whole new level. After learning that Lucius is more than a simple general from Numidia, Macrinus unleashes a newfound plot to ensure his ascension to the throne. He pits the emperor twins against one another, taking advantage of Caracalla’s cognitive impairments and using his hand to aggressively slit Geta’s throat and behead him. He then uses Caracalla as a scapegoat for the madness that unfolds in the final gladiator games.
Macrinus’ revelation seemingly comes out of nowhere, but Scott plants the seed perfectly. For anyone to be the head of the gladiator recruitment, there is a certain coldhearted quality required of them. He insists that he merely loves the sport and exploits people for their money and loyalty whenever he can. It turns a complex character that doesn’t quite have a clear role in Rome into front and center about the types of power pillages that have occurred for centuries.
Most films take the time to build exposition before jumping into the plot’s intensity. The film thrusts the viewer into a high-intensity combat scene and amps it up. With references to the first movie allowing viewers who haven’t seen the original to fill in the gaps, the movie’s intensity increases as it depicts the rise and fall of a generational hero. Lucius does what Maximus could only dream of and honors his father’s legacy, comparable to how this film did justice to its predecessor. Watching Lucius become a hero like his father was a beautiful and unique take on an acclaimed story.
Maximus’ presence is felt throughout the film. Lucius is a strong and tenacious character, but that power derives from his father’s legacy. Even before Lucilla finds him, she and Acacius discuss finding a way to make Maximus’ dream a reality. When Lucius recites the Roman verses, she and Macrinus remember Maximus. The movie even uses brief flashbacks of Maximus fighting in the arena when Lucius fights. The tribute to the original is truly evident during the final act, when Lucius dons his father’s armor, uses his sword and rallies his fellow gladiators to fight for the freedom of Rome’s citizens and end the tyranny that his father could not live to eradicate.
In its final act, “Gladiator II” does more than entertain — it truly shines. It tells the story of a generational hero’s becoming with all the odds stacked against them. Lucius takes inspiration from his mother’s love and his father’s legacy to overcome the brutalities that Rome has inflicted on him since his youth. What I truly appreciated about the film is that there is never an indicator as to who was going to live or die. Nearly all the main characters die on-screen, and in the final fight between Lucius and Macrinus, it’s hard not to wonder if Lucius will meet his father’s fate. Lucius killing Macrinus not only grants him peace and the vengeance he craved, but delivers satisfaction to the viewer that the hero not only survives but ends the conflict to usher Rome’s Republic — all of which would not be possible without the brilliant cast trusted to craft and carry this story.
“Gladiator II” is an invigorating film with unforgettable characters, acting and fight sequences. Viewers coming out of this film will find themselves more than entertained, they will find a sequel so captivating and relevant to today’s society that reignites hope in the power of hero stories and cinema.
Final score: 10/10
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About the Contributor
Sarah Chaudhry is an Assistant Arts & Culture Editor. She is a sophomore majoring in biology and pursuing a minor in creative writing. She's usually studying or doing homework, but on the off chance she's actually free, you'll find her rewatching one of her favorite Marvel movies or reading the newest book in her collection.
