Ridley Scott’s epic Gladiator (2000) finally has a sequel and it stars Denzel Washington, Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal and Connie Nielsen.
Following Maximus’s death, the story picks up with Lucius, the son of Maximus’s love Lucilla.
I’ll start by saying that the original Gladiator film is the first movie I watched that was so impressive that it left me speechless. Now that I have seen the trailer for the follow-up, as harsh as it sounds, it appears I may be wise to lower my expectations.
Much of this trailer just isn’t clicking for me right now, and that’s before mentioning the ill-advised soundtrack.
As wonderful as the actors are, I’m not getting the expected epic vibe as I watch this. Dare I say, so far, Gladiator II is feeling oddly lower budget. Plus, I already miss Russell Crowe’s Maximus Decimus Meridius.
It also looks like I’ll have to see one more Pedro Pascal character slain in another one-on-one battle, just like his much-loved Oberyn (my favourite character) in Game of Thrones. That’s not necessarily something I want to see again.
With all the above in mind, I may have to hold back before I buy my ticket. I hope I’m wrong – and may well be. But what do you think?
Fred Hechinger, Alexander Karim, Derek Jacobi, Chidi Ajufo, Peter Mensah, Rory McCann, Riana Duce, May Calamawy, Tim McInnerny, Alec Utgoff and Matt Lucas also star.
Gladiator II Release Dates: November 15th 2024 (UK); November 22nd, 2024 (US)…
Happy Film Loving,
G
The Movie My Life 
Definitely picking up on a lot of CGI in it, which isn’t a good thing for me. It *is* directed by Ridley Scott (even though he couldn’t be bothered to direct the latest Alien movie!) which is saying something. I’m leaning towards good but will have to wait and see…
I suspect that the CGI isn’t helping with the lower budget feel. Good point about Scott’s decision to direct this. I hope the next trailer they release will have me feeling more optimistic. It’s a wait and see game indeed.
I thought the first one was good, but not great. I don’t understand the praise it got. Especially compared to some of other Ridley’s movies.. This one looks interesting and I don’t feel the low budget. Can you give an example what made you feel that way?
In fairness, I’ve watched the original just once when it was released. So, I should probably see it again to discover how my opinions compare. I loved what Crowe did with his role and Joaquin Phoenix was super as the jealous son. The dialogue, music, story and ending had me fully immersed and delighted.
The low-budget vibe comes from the look of the CGI and some of the costumes. It feels to me like a staging of actors on set instead of an actual world of people I’m getting to watch in their authentic environment. I’m also concerned about the quality of the story, and whether the execution of it will be good enough to warrant this sequel.
The use of modern music by Kanye and Jay-Z – two great artists in their own right, but the music simply doesn’t fit. In fact, it pulled me out of the world of it all.
Lastly, maybe I’ll warm to the Mescal character, but right now, I’m not as intrigued as I’d like to be.
Great post. I’m beyond excited to see this movie. I was such a huge fan of the first film which was medieval piece of art and one of the best movies ever made. Not only did it educate audiences about Roman history but it launched careers of amazing actors. This sequel definitely has a lot to live up given how great the origins film is.
Here’s why I loved “Gladiator”:
Honestly it looks really bad to me. I love the original Gladiator too. It’s one of my personal favorite Best Picture winners. Gladiator II looks like an overly polished CGI heavy misfire. I know the soundtrack won’t be hip hop, but using it in the trailer makes no sense.
We’re just going to have hope that somehow, the final film ends up better than this uninspiring trailer suggests. Regarding the music, I like to think that someone at Paramount is probably saying ‘I told you so,’ considering the public reaction to this trailer so far.
I feel as well that was a trailer music not from the movie.
It makes one think, if they can make such a basic error with the trailer music, what other errors can we expect? Also, I forgot to mention that the dialogue also feels a tad off. Still, I hope to swallow all my words when it’s released. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
I don;t know how I feel about this one! Love Denzel though.
Your reaction is the same as mine. I hope it’s great tho.
Fingers, toes and everything crossed that we are all very pleasantly surprised. 🙏🙏🙏🤞🤞🤞