Gladiator II

Rated R • Theaters

Almost a quarter century after the original film, director Ridley Scott has created a sequel to Gladiator. That film, in which Russell Crowe played Maximus, a general-turned-gladiator, won the Academy Award for best picture of the year 2000 and is beloved by legions of fans. With Hollywood desperate to tap into Gen X nostalgia, it was only a matter of time before we stepped back into the arena.

Gladiator II takes place 20 years after the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the event that set the original film in motion. The emperor’s grandson Lucius (Paul Mescal) is living in exile in North Africa. Despotic twin emperors Caracalla and Geta (Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn) now rule Rome, and after the Roman army, led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), destroys Lucius’ home and sells him into slavery, Lucius vows revenge. He’s aided in his quest by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a former slave with designs of his own. Lucius’ plan is complicated by the fact that Acacius is married to his mother, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen reprising).

In the original Gladiator, Scott took certain liberties with the historical record, but with this sequel, he shows an utter disdain for it. Gladiator II isn’t so much historical fiction as it is historically inspired fantasy. Scott ignores chronology, invents wars, and reimagines the sibling emperors as cartoonish, albeit bloodthirsty, buffoons. He pushes the sets, the costumes, and the action sequences beyond reality into the bizarrely grotesque. The R rating is solely based on violence.

The sheer silliness of it all might be forgivable, if the film possessed a compelling story. Alas, it does not. Scott indicts systemic injustice, which robs the narrative of any personal investment. Lucius is neither sympathetic nor inspiring. But the film’s greatest crime might be that it undercuts the poignancy of the original film by rendering Maximus’ death meaningless. Gladiator II will not echo in eternity.