Goodness gracious – where does one begin? You could take the cliche route and talk about the visuals, direction, the music.
However, this film does so much right for me that I don’t want to take a cliche route.
Gladiator 2 did everything right for me and was one of the few movies this year I walked out shout “Yes!” Let’s start with the pure and utter scale of these gladiator battles. I mean they were just a pure treat to watch and to anyone who cares about historical accuracy – you also must not like fun or being entertained.
Watching Roman soldiers fight on ships with bloodthirsty sharks swimming around made the movie lover in me exclaim with excitement. Ridley Scott, the director of the first Gladiator and now the sequel, understands how to still produce an epic on this scale. Scott delivers on everything that made this first Gladiator so iconic. However, one aspect that made the first so iconic was Russell Crowes’ performance which went on to win him an Oscar.
It brings me so much joy to see Paul Mescal take such a big risk in becoming the lead for this film. Especially, after receiving his first Oscar nomination for the gut-wrenching film Aftersun. It was so amazing to see him become this confident, charismatic, and strong gladiator in this film.
Everyone in the cast was great, as well such as Joseph Quinn and Pedro Pascal. There was one man who completely stole the show when it came to showcasing a performance. Denzel Washington – My Goodness. His performance has been the recurring talk when it comes to this movie and for good reason as well.
For my money, it is his best performance since his iconic Oscar award-winning performance in the film Training Day. He commands the viewers’ attention and has a calmness about him that makes him the most interesting part of the film. His unpredictability he can portray was some of the most impressive work I have seen from an actor or actress this year. I hope that this performance will land him his third Oscar win.
The story is the film’s biggest complaint from many. It serves as a close copy of the original however, takes a unique approach. Which to me made me very happy as I felt I was watching something original. The story gives a perspective of understanding for every single character involved. You understand what motivates each character to do what they do.
However, to see our protagonist Lucius go on this amazing character arc to become this brave leader was one of the best aspects of the film as his character is completely fleshed out.
The best way to describe this film to someone would be epic. It doesn’t feel like this movie would come out in 2024. Hollywood has produced only a few movies of this scale in the past two decades. It makes me very excited for the future of Hollywood to see the word epic being used once again regarding filmmaking.
This film is getting very mixed reviews across the country as we see people who love it or hate it. Even though I am on the loving side, I do understand viewers’ problems with it. However, the “complaints” do not bother me at all. I guess that is why films are opinionated at the end of the day.
One thing viewers will walk away with is the feeling of being entertained. And they don’t even need to duck a flung sword to do it.
