ReelBob: ‘Gladiator II’ ★★

By Bob Bloom

Et tu, Ridley Scott? Were we not thoroughly entertained with “Gladiator?”

Must you burden us with an unexceptional sequel? Thus, we only are partially entertained with “Gladiator II,” a movie that tries very hard to rise to the heights of its predecessor but mostly misses the mark.

The reasons are many — the flat performance of Paul Mescal as Lucius Verus, who is so bland that he couldn’t even lead a parade, let alone inspire a cadre of gladiators to follow him into the arena or battle, and the storyline, which — even at 148 minutes — seems shallow and formulaic.

“Gladiator II’s” biggest failures are its absence of depth and gravitas. The movie lacks a character as monumental and memorable as Russell Crowe’s Maximus. That is because Scott took his time introducing us to the Roman general and allowing us to get to know his ideals and values.

We admired and later sympathized with him after he was betrayed and his family murdered, only to survive and return to Rome as a famed gladiator in the arena where he fought for his freedom and, ultimately, his revenge.

No such time was spent on developing the character of Lucius, a warrior in the north African country of Numidia. He is a one-trick pony, only wanting revenge on the entire Roman army, but ultimately settles on Pedro Pascal’s Marcus Acacius, the general who destroyed Lucius’ homeland and killed his wife.

While it was close to 45 minutes before Maximus was fighting in the arena, before you could even start munching your popcorn, Lucius was battling for his life.

The sequel lacks the political undercurrent that ran through “Gladiator.” Instead, we get a pair of twin emperors who are so one-dimensionally craven that they are caricatures verging on cartoonish.

Again, pardon the comparisons to the original, but even Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus displayed more depth than these terrible twin titans.

The main spark of vigor in “Gladiator II” comes from Denzel Washington as Macrinus, the conniving, scene-stealing, power broker with a secret agenda that does not bode well for many of the main characters as well as Rome itself.

Macrinus is all colorful swirling and flowing robes, bows, grins, flattery — all the while planning to slit throats and assassinate those in his way.

One of the movie’s worst kept secrets is that Lucius is the son of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the sister of Commodus, whose father is Maximus. He also is the grandson of Marcus Aurelius, the emperor murdered by his son, Commodus, in the original. This makes Lucius, a prince of Rome and basically heir to the throne.

However, like his father and grandfather, Lucius dreams of Rome existing as a Republic without emperors.

Scott ups the flamboyance of the battles in the arena with a rhinoceros opposing gladiators and flooding the arena for a “naval” battle between ships as well as sharks to feed on the unlucky souls who fall into the water.

Still, it is Washington’s over-the-top performance that dominates the movie. If only he could have passed some of that flair onto a few of his costars. As it is, “Gladiator II” joins a very long list of uninspired and unnecessary sequels.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

GLADIATOR II
2 stars out of 4
(PG-13), bloody and graphic violence