Gladiator 2 Second verse, same as the first

I think that reviewers have long held a sort of de facto distain for sequels and that’s not without merit. We can all point to numerous second acts that were downright awful. Certainly, that list is much, much longer than the very short list of sequels that were better than the first.* But that might be a tad unfair, too. Some sequels, while paling next to the movie that gave them life, can certainly stand on their own. Die Hard 2 is a great example. Beverly Hills Cop 2 is another. And Gladiator 2 falls into that catagory also.

The devil you know or the devils you don’t?

Gladiator 2 picks up the story of Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius 16 years after his death. The dream that was Rome has not only failed after Maxumus’ sacrifice, it has fallen to even greather depths of depravity. The Empire is now ruled by Emperors Geta an Caracalla, twins, during a period of great unrest and instability.

And, as is the norm with sequels, the ante is always upped. Geta and Caracalla are even more decadent and unhinged than their predecesor Commodus (played magnificently by Joquin Phoenix). One seeks to amass more wealth to pay for their extravagances by way of war (I guess just taxing the populus didn’t cover expenses). The other one was just bat-shite crazy, assumedly by way of syphilis.

They say you can crush a man’s head

As in the original, the moral center of the movie and the Empire was the leader of the Roman Legions, General Acacius. While dutifully carrying out the orders of Emperor Geta, Acacius (played by over-rated but also wasted in this role Pedro Pascal) limply laments the fallen state of the once great Roman empire. In a true Roman twist of fate, his armies attacked a city where lived a young husband, fisher and part-time soldier named Hanno (Paul Mescal). Only after the city was sacked, his wife killed (by Acacius, of course) and he taken as a slave, did Hanno learn that he was indeed, the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen reprising her role) and Maximus, Lucius Verus.

Also akin to the original, opportunist and purveyor of human colosseum-foder Macrinus (Denzel Washington) sees the seething rage of Hanno and plans to harness that elemental force to make him a champion. It was only later (and in a very murky fashion) that we learned Macrinus’ true aim was to gain control of the whole of Rome.

Don’t forget about Legend

Director Ridley Scott is almost as famous for his monumental duds as he is for his unforgetable truimphs, and lately he has had more of the former than the latter. Napoleon, House of Gucci and now Gladiator 2, all fall very short of the incredibly high bar he has set for himself (The Martian, Alien, Gladiator and Blade Runner, to name a few). The good still far outshine the bad, IMO.

Did Gladiator 2 jump the shark?

The special effects were especially on point in Gladiator 2. The fight sequences were very well done and suitably gorey. I was suprised to learn that there were in fact, naval battles (called naumachiae) reenacted in the colosseum. Whatever else you might say about the ancient Romans, they were ingenius. And while hungry sharks might have been Hollywood upping that ante, the Average Dude abides.

In the end, I’m giving Gladiator 2 a decent 3.2 out of 5. It absolutely suffers by comparison to the original, which won Best Picture in 2000. But I think that, if it were not living in that shadow, it would have been a suitably entertaining sword and sandal flick. Let the mainstream movie philosophers debate its very obvious similarities to the first and glaring flaws in the town square. We will feel free to enjoy it for its own sake.

Not that I don’t wish there were…

Oh and not for nothing…I saw an advertisement for this movie during football this week, claiming that ‘Gladiator 2 was the biggest hit of the year’. Ummm, did they all just forget about Deadpool and Wolverine? Heck, it wasn’t even the biggest SEQUEL of the year. There were twelve sequels that ranked higher than Gladiator 2 (17th). See, this is why you need The Average Dude…someone like you who will tell you straight up and simply if a movie will be worth your time and try to find something positive if at all possible. I’m not trying to justify a payday. There is no payday here. Just the honest truth.

What can I say except You’re Welcome!

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