The Freaking Film Fanatic with Nathan Unck
Gladiator II Rated: R for Strong Bloody Violence.
In the year 2000 we were treated to a wonderful film called Gladiator. Russel Crow, a somewhat newcomer to the world of mainstream film, as the film's protagonist. His name is Maximus, and he is an amazing war general, who has won the affection of the Emperor of Rome and chosen to be the next emperor over the emperor's son, Commodus. When Commodus murders his ailing father and claims himself to be the new emperor, Maximus is traded and made a slave, who works his way up to becoming a gladiator, a fighter to entertain the masses of Rome in the Colosseum, all while doing so to get close to Commodus to kill him for ordering a small part of his army to kill Maximus' wife and son. Maximus wins over the people, setting a former lover, the daughter of the emperor, Lucilla, and his son, Lucius, not knowing that Lucious is actually his son. Commodus is killed, and the senators of Rome are put in charge of the people, and Lucius and Lucilla are safe.
Got that? Good.
I have to be honest; I had only seen an edited version of Gladiator where the violence was edited. Basically, it would show Maximus go into the Colosseum, and then it would skip to after the violence and blood, making it a two hour long "chick flick". So, I had to rewatch the R rated version with the violence and blood, which make it a way better movie than the edited version. So watching that the day before my critic screening was awesome. I loved the first film, and while the second one doesn't quite reach the heights of the Colosseum itself, it's a very worthy sequel to a film that didn't really need one. However, I am glad that it exists because it's a very entertaining film, with a great plotline that most sequel films don't achieve with a sequel, although there have been sequels better than the originals, but this isn't the case here.
So, what's the story here? In flashbacks, we are shown how Luccia sent Lucius away to Africa to stay safe from the violent politics of the Roman Empire. We find Lucius, (Played by Paul Mescal.), as a grown man with a beautiful wife, but when they hear the horn sounds of the trumpets, they know that the armies of Rome are there to conquer their peaceful city, which happens to be the last free city in Africa. The film opens up with an amazing battle sequence where large barges are in the waters attacking the city. Lucius then loses his wife at the command of Marcus Acacius, (Played by Pedro Pascal). Lucius, who leads the small army trying to defend their city sees Marcus giving the order and is filled with rage and wants revenge. However, What Lucius doesn't know is that Marcus is the husband of his mother, Lucilla.
Lucius is then captured and made a slave, but almost immediately is thrown into a very small arena to fight a band of terribly animated baboons. Seriously, the worst part of the movie are those baboons. Nothing takes me out of a film quicker than bad CGI. However, the rhino and sharks, (You'll see.), are a lot better, but those baboons were forgettable after a few minutes after the scene. Lucius becomes a gladiator, like his father, Maximus. He is filled with rage and vengeance, and is able to impress a man called Marcinus, (Played incredibly by Denzel Washington.), and is promised that if he fights and wins in the Colosseum, he could have his revenge on his mother's husband who gave the order to have his archers shoot Lucius's wife.
However, we find that Marcus is tired of war and hates what has happened to the empire, especially with its Ceasars, who are twins. They are very creepy and nasty looking. They are characters that you like to hate. Marcus has a secret agenda to kill the young twin emperors and turn the empire into a republic. Lucius doesn't know about the plot until a little later, but as for now, I am going to stop talking about the plot. That's just the setup.
At nearly two and a half hours, the movie is thoroughly entertaining. They acting is on point, and Denzel Washington should garner an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He is amazing. He is likeable, and is trying to help Lucius, but he has his own agenda that becomes clear later on. It's an amazing acting performance, and the film is worth seeing even if it's only for his acting, but the plotline is good. There are plot twists, schemes and a lot, and I am talking a lot of bloody gladiator action. This sequel has twice the blood and twice the action that the original has, but a lot of the plot is dependent on knowing the plot from the first film, which is why I added the lengthy paragraph to open this review. The more you know the events in the first film make this film more entertaining and easier to understand.
The R rated content is for all of the blood and violence, although there is a scene where there is girl hanging on the shoulders of one of the twin emperors who has an exposed breast, but has a golden trinket pasty over her nipple, so there's that, but it's barely noticeable and the scene is quick. There might have been two other swear words, but are only dang and heck real words. I have four teenage boys, and I let them watch the first film with me, but told them it's violent, but wasn't overdone to a point where I felt like it had a soft R rating. However, this one has the violence doubled, and I wouldn't be as willing to let my kids watch this one until they are a little older.
This is a film that really didn't need to be made, but Ridley Scott did a great job on making a story that pays homage to the original while also making it it's own thing and reason to exist. If I hadn't seen the first film, I would have been a little lost, but the story is well written, well told and well executed by the actors, especially Denzel Washington. If you are a fan of the original film, seeing Gladiator II is definitely a must-see film. Just ignore the terrible CGI baboons.
Gladiator II is rated R for Strong Bloody Violence.
