Gladiator 2

After watching the first Gladiator again we watched Gladiator 2 at home. Obviously we lacked the immersive large screen and dolby surround sound experience that would have enhanced the spectacle. Luckily the movie was also quite enjoyable on the couch at home. Still, in direct comparison with the original Gladiator it lacks emotion and tension. This time we follow the story of Lucius, son of Lucilla who has been living in hiding from the Roman empire since the story in the first Gladiator ended. His mother Lucilla, played again by Connie Nielsen, is now married to a successful general Acacius. Acacius wages war on the country where Lucius is living and Lucius is captured and brought back as a slave to become a gladiator. The whole story is very similar to the one in the first Gladiator but as mentioned before lacks emotion. To begin with, Lucius, played by Paul Mescal, is a less convincing main character driven by revenge. He wants to kill Acacius because his wife was killed in the battle. Compared to Maximus in the original Gladiator, the motivation for revenge is less ‘dramatic’. Also, the death of Lucius’ partner is predictable, from the moment you meet her character you know she is going to die soon. Emperor Commodus is replaced by twin emperors who are not just evil but simple raving mad. I was about to comment that their characters are not very credible but seeing what goes on in seats of power today I am not so sure anymore. Denzel Washington’s performance together with that of Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal, who plays Acacius, save the movie. Visually the movie shines and there are plenty of good battle scenes so I would catalogue it as fair to good, certainly not great. It lacks emotional depth and is too predictable in my opinion. There is also a bit too much explicit and gratuitous blood and gore to my liking.