A feuilleton in peplum sauce crossed with special effects (great, for goodness sake) that draw heavily from the most sophisticated fantasy cinematography: Gladiator II, sequel to the iconic 2000 film directed by Ridley Scott debuts in theaters today, Nov. 14. But I doubt it will carve out a place for itself in the history of world cinematography like its predecessor.
Directed once again by Ridley Scott from a script by Peter Scarpa, it takes place 25 years after the death of Maximus Decimus Meridius, a role that at the time elected Russell Crowe to the Olympus of world superstars. And because it was really difficult to baste a sequel given the death of the protagonist, it takes advantage of historical and narrative freedoms to use the most classic of ploys: the existence of a son, Lucius.
Lucius is actually the son of only Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, who reprises her role in the sequel) in the first film because, as we know, Maximus’s wife and child were made to be killed because of the plot hatched by Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix played him) that kicked off the narrative.
The fact is that Gladiator II opens twenty-five years later with Lucius now a man–Paul Mescal plays him–who Lucilla had run away as a child after the death of Maximus (for all intents and purposes the son of the two) and raised alone in Numidia. His father’s karma, however, looms: the city where he lives is attacked and conquered by the Romans led by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), his beautiful barbarian wife killed, and he ends up a slave.
Driven by a desire for vengeance and because of his prowess in arena fighting-there is a great scene, all special effects, in which he confronts and kills a baboon-he is bought by the treacherous freedman Macrinus (Denzel Washington) and taken to Rome to perform before the insane twin emperors Geta and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn).
There he will find his mother, who in the meantime has remarried to Acacius, who after all is not as bad as he seems, and he will be implicated in a political intrigue hatched against the emperors. But most importantly, he will fight as a gladiator in the Colosseum.
With an ending that we will not spoil.
Given the little substance of the plot, the film’s merit lies entirely in the grandeur of its execution, which uses thousands of extras and entire parts of ancient Rome reconstructed indoors and outdoors, with spectacular battle scenes, movements of ships and armies, gladiatorial and animal fights, and even an incredible naval battle in the flooded Colosseum complete with sharks.
“The popularity of Gladiator has continued to grow over the years,” Ridley Scott recounted. “The film has stayed in the minds of audiences. I knew we would have to consider a sequel, but it took years to figure out what the story would be.” And he explains that he considered casting Paul Mescal in the title role after seeing him in the television series Normal People. “He seemed like a very solid, intelligent actor, almost a cross between Richard Harris and a very young Albert Finney. As the script began to evolve, I kept thinking about him. I knew he was a very good stage performer, which is a plus for me.”
The article <i>The Gladiator II</i> debuts in theaters comes from TheNewyorker.
