The legendary Ridley Scott returns with Gladiator 2, the follow-up sequel to perhaps his most iconic and sweeping historical epic, 2000’s Gladiator. In an age when big-budget historical epics are getting rarer and being made less, he is keeping the genre alive almost single-handedly, most recently with Napoleon released just last year.

Was I entertained or was I not entertained with Gladiator 2? Read on to find out.

Pax Romana No More

Overall, Gladiator 2 lacks the originality of the first movie but what it lacks in originality, it provides in pure spectacle and production value that’s through the roof. The highlight of Gladiator 2 is the action scenes, especially the epic set pieces that are grander and bigger in scale compared to the first movie. The most memorable scene is probably the one involving the cinematic recreation of a naval battle inside the Colosseum. It may seem outlandish at first and you may think that it’s fictional, but this is actually historically accurate and it happened in real life. Another great segment is the opening set piece of the movie, which involves a naval invasion landing in Numidia. I’m a sucker for naval battles in cinematic movies, and I’m sure there are many history buffs out there who are the same.

In addition, Gladiator 2 has a climax that (in some ways) is better than the first Gladiator. While the first Gladiator had a more emotional, personal and intimate climax, Gladiator 2 chooses to go bigger in scale for the end of the movie. However, in going bigger, the climax in Gladiator 2 still somewhat keeps part of that personal touch from the first movie, though it will likely be more divisive amongst viewers of the movie. The narrative in Gladiator 2 is less straightforward than the first one, with a few more twists and turns, but none that will be particularly shocking or unexpected.

While he doesn’t have much screen time compared to the others, Pedro Pascal delivers an amazing performance (he’s no stranger to epics like this, having previously been in Game Of Thrones). Paul Mescall does his best as the lead but it’s difficult not to compare him with the more charismatic Russell Crowe. The actors playing the two emperors (Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta and Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla) also deliver unhinged performances that remind me of the stories of tyrannical Roman emperors such as Caligula. As for Denzel Washington, he’s a wild card in the movie and without spoiling his exact role, the veteran actor definitely performs.

That being said, it’s a bit jarring to see lines from the first movie repeated verbatim in Gladiator 2 that feel a bit too on the nose. That’s perhaps the unfortunate aspect of Gladiator 2; it reuses many of the same ideas and themes from the first Gladiator, including famous quotable lines such as “what we do in life echoes in eternity”. The pacing is also a bit all over the place, especially considering its runtime of almost 2 hours and 30 minutes. While there are plenty of action scenes and set pieces, the movie is heavier on the dialogue side, which may be a tad boring for viewers who are not used to watching historical epics.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

Ultimately, Gladiator 2 doesn’t do much in actually innovating or pushing forward the genre of historical epics, but it’s an entertaining big-budget historical epic, which is rare and almost non-existent these days. Kudos to Ridley Scott for keeping the historical epic genre alive with movies like Gladiator 2 and Napoleon. Gladiator 2 likely won’t end up as a timeless instant classic like the first one but it still deserves to be on the pantheon of entertaining big-budget historical epics.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

We attended a press screening of Gladiator 2 courtesy of United International Pictures Malaysia. Gladiator 2 premieres in Malaysian cinemas on 14 November 2024.