Gladiator II (2024) * *

Directed by:  Ridley Scott

Starring:  Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Fred Hechinger, Joseph Quinn, Derek Jacobi

Ever since the first Gladiator won five Oscars including Best Picture in 2000, rumors of a sequel were floated and soon languished in movie purgatory.   The sequel, unnecessary as it is, has arrived in theaters.  I enjoyed Gladiator on its intended level, but I never felt the story needed a continuation.   Ridley Scott had a differing opinion, and now we have the uneven Gladiator II, with a tepid main character and supporting performances by Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington which are far more lively and multi-dimensional.  Hanno (Mescal), who we learn is the son of the deceased Maximus from the first film and Lucilla (Nieslen), battles the Romans in the opening scene but after losing a key battle, is taken prisoner and sold into slavery.  He later becomes a beloved gladiator who wins the Roman Colosseum crowd over and threatens the stability of the reigning emperors (Quinn and Hechinger), while slave owner Macrinus (Washington) maneuvers to usurp power.

Does this sound at all familiar?  Gladiator II is merely the same story told again.  Imagine the odds that a father and son would both be military heroes and then made slaves and later fierce gladiators.  I liked how Lucilla's husband General Acacius (Pascal), the leader of the Roman armies, despises his emperors and plots with Lucilla to overthrow them.  He does not know that Hanno (whose real name is Lucius and was a child in the first film) is Lucilla's long-lost son, but when he does, his showdown with Hanno/Lucius takes on an interesting dynamic.  Pascal, unfortunately, isn't kept around long enough, but Washington picks up the slack and has an absolute ball as the treacherous Marcinus, who will use whatever means at his disposal to outflank the doofus emperors and gain control of the armies.   Lucius makes it his business to stop him.

The original film won a Best Visual Effects Oscar at a time when CGI was in its infancy.  Years later, the CGI in Gladiator II doesn't seem advanced.  It's downright cheesy in some scenes.   The battles the gladiators are involved in grow more and more ridiculous, with the battle inside a flooded Colosseum with sharks swimming around taking the cake.   I know, I know, it's only a movie, but let's say the Romans did figure out a way to turn the Colosseum into a swimming pool (they were pretty ingenious).   How did the sharks get there?  How were they transported?  Were glass aquariums invented then and were they filled with water and used to transport sharks over land to Rome?   How did they catch the sharks and lift the multi-ton sharks into the glass enclosures?  The mind boggles.  It makes little difference because the battles take on the sophistication of a video game.  

Mescal takes on essentially the Russell Crowe role without Crowe's charisma.  He tries to sound like Crowe, but occasionally musters a smile and a joke.  But he's not someone the audience can rally around.  It's telling we would rather watch Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington than the star.  The movie leaves open a chance for a third film.  It'll be as needed as this one.