Gladiator II (15) |Close-Up Film Review
Dir. Ridley Scott, UK/UK, 2024, 148 mins
Cast: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielson
Review by Carol Allen
Until that is the Roman army with its lust for conquest comes a-conquering and Lucius is captured, taken back to Rome and enrolled in the gladiator school, run by former slave Macrinus (Denzel Washington).
This is a well thought out sequel with an excellent cast. Veteran director Scott is a master at spectacle, which is prominent in this. Apart from the battle scenes, the scenes in the colosseum are splendid. Gladiators battling with strange exotic beasts or at one point the arena flooded with the gladiators fighting each other from two ships. The crowds look pretty real and enthusiastic too, wound up as they are by Matt Lucas as the Roman equivalent of an MC. Not much talk of bread but there are circuses in abundance
The main story works well too. This is the short year in Roman history when the two brothers shared the Emperor role – Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta and Fred Hechinger as Caracalla. They are a pretty poisonous and rather camp pair, poncing about in heavy eye make up and really enjoying the sadism of the circuses and the power they have when they give the thumbs down vote of death.
While not quite as imposing as his father, Mescal is nicely buffed up and handsome as Lucius the hero, who between turns in the arena is touchingly reunited with his long lost mother (Connie Nielsen back in the role of the now older Lucilla). Derek Jacobi has a spit and a cough return as senator Gracchus but the most interesting character in many ways is the villainous Macrinus. He is a ruthless social climber, who has clawed his way from slavery to a position of power and has his eye on grabbing the ultimate prize, ruler of empire itself. Washington, who usually takes the hero role, plays him to the hilt, to the extent there are times when you believe he may actually achieve his aim.
