⚔️ I Watched GLADIATOR II and Felt Nothing... | Movie Review

Ridley Scott brings us back to the Colosseum for a follow up to his iconic and unforgettable "Gladiator", but is "Gladiator II" a worthy sequel? Did it recapture the magic of the original? Is Paul Mescal able to carry this epic? Or are the stunning visuals the main thing this movie has going for it?

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► TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Back to the Colosseum
03:47 - The epic visuals
05:14 - About historical accuracy...
06:11 - Yes, there's some CGI
06:34 - Denzel Washington is the MVP
07:47 - Was Paul Mescal miscast?
09:44 - A lesser version of "Gladiator"
10:56 - I felt nothing

#gladiator2 #gladiator #ridleyscott #moviereview #impressionblend

[ImpressionBlend]

Will you be watching "Gladiator II" in theaters?? Are you a fan of the original "Gladiator"?

[Trey-sr]

"The visuals are great, I feel nothing". The sentence that define almost every blockbuster of the decade

[jadwiga]

The whole retcon with Lucius now being the son of Maximus CHEAPENS Maximus' arc as an honorable man. Yes, he had something with Lucilla in the past but that was iirc before she and he got married to other people, and when they reconnected after years he marvelled at how both of their sons were around the same age. To overcome the loss of his wife and son, and to show this kindness to the son of his old female friend just makes him even greater of a character. You do not NEED to be blood-related to a person to impress such kindness, admirability and drive for strength and honor onto them. This retcon literally bothered me throughout the movie.

[sgtjarhead]

"Are you not entertained!!!". Classic line. I shouted that in a board meeting one time. It didn't go very well.

[sauronthegreat]

As usual, it's not the cgi and special effects that make a movie. It's the story and character development that most important.

[Julie]

Feeling nothing after seeing a $300 million dollar movie is the norm now. After 2010, most hollywood movies have slowly become hollow, empty, just spectacle and cgi. Ugh I’m just so tired of the same garbage

[emmanuelardron]

My favourite part of the film was when Caracalla appoints his spider monkey as first pro-consul.

[thatsbollox]

Lead actor has no gravitas, no charisma.
Needed an actor who was believable for such a strong part...especially if they wanted to constantly compare to Crowe's original.

[victorduncker]

The main reason Gladiator II bothers me is because it kinda ruins the magic of the first one by forcing Lucius to be Maximus' bastard son.
This wasn't necessary but more importantly it paints of different picture of Maximus that is not consistent with the man we all grew to respect.

Here are a couple reasons why Lucius being the bastard son of Maximus does not work.

When Maximus prays to his ancestors, he is always holding two figurines who clearly represent his wife and only son.
He says "blessed father watch over my wife and son (singular) with a ready sword..." If Lucius was also his son, he would have said "my wife and sons" (plural) and he would be holding a 3rd figurine to represent Lucius.

In order for the honorable Maximus to have gotten Lucilla pregnant with Lucius, he would've had to have slept with Lucilla while she was married to Lucius Verus and potentially while he (Maximus) was also married. At the very least, this means that the honorable Maximus disrespected the co-ruling emperor of Rome. This goes against the values and principles that Maximus stands for.

In every conversation he and Lucilla have regarding their sons, they are always spoken of as belonging to them separately. When Maximus refers to Lucius, it's always "your son" and when Lucilla speaks of Lucius it's always "my son". This is not the language of parents who share a child.

In a conversation with Lucilla in the first movie, Maximus says "I heard of your husband's death, I mourned him". This means Maximus respected her husband. How the hell does that line even work if he was shagging her behind his back?

Next, in his conversation with his friend Juba about seeing their families in the afterlife, Maximus says this "You see, my wife and my son are already waiting for me." Does this sound like a man who has another son? Nope, Maximus has one goal. Avenge the death of his family and see them again in the afterlife. He does not mention Lucius, or pray for him, or try to stay alive to see him. The only reason Lucius is remotely important to him is because he cares for Lucilla. By killing Commodus, Maximus avenges the death of his family, saves Rome from the corrupt emperor, and unburdens Lucilla from fear of her son being killed. So, Ridley Scott's devotion to historical inaccuracy extends to his own stories, haha.

[fayelove]

It Didn't bring you in the story. The original you felt Maximus pain

[jeanclaude]

i'm actually speachless about the mutant monkeys...this movie doesn't look serious to me. it kinda looks like a high budget parody

[Winbraker]

Bro I didn’t even feel anything when Lucilla died. That’s how much I didn’t connect with it.

[Anthonycheesman]

A movie in 2024 being just okay is an absolute win these days lol.

[thedukeofswellington]

while watching G II i thought to myself if the guy running the projector interrupted the movie and said "hey guys were just gonna play the original Gladiator. cool?" everyone would've cheered

[mariamtchokho]

Saw it yesterday and felt like, it was not a second part, but a poor remake of the original. The audience were laughing (me included) at the last scene with Denzel, that's how unconvincing he was. I think Denzel is a great actor in general, but for this role, he was not a good choice, he didn't embody a man from ancient Rome....
conclusion is that there are classics that shouldn't be touched. The original Gladiator is a masterpiece with amazing cast, music and original plot.

[RelaxInAtmosphere]

You nailed it! I also felt nothing and was just reminded throughout how much better the original was.

[johnschannel]

it was never going to be as good as the original

[NP-zthy]

I haven’t seen it yet, but if I heard correctly that there are sharks in the coliseum… we can’t even get tiger or bull or great whites sharks into the biggest aquariums today. Nitpick, but still.

[sergeromero]

Romans did flood the coliseum to represent naval battles, but that was decades before this time. When these movies happen they had already built all the tunnels and polys system underneath the arena and they never flooded it again since that's where they kept the animals and it would have been a mess to get the water out of all of that.

One thing is to take creative licenses, and another very different one is to do things that make you say "this is just stupid".

[myothercarisadelorean]

I walked out 40 mins in. The problem I had is Denzel Washington is playing a character in 200 A.D. But he still acts like it's the movie Training Day. I love Denzel but he’s typecasted as either a cop or drug dealer character, not a slave owner in 200 A.D. Rome. Also, the pacing of story was too quick. In the original, Marcus loathes over the death of his family and is resistant to comply as a slave until he’s finally pushed. This movie, ok my wife and land were murdered and slaughtered. Put me into slavery and open the doors up so I can be a gladiator.