Ridley Scott’s 2024 sequel to the first classic of the 21st Century, Gladiator (2000), brings Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal to the centre of the Colosseum in this violent, gory though emotional odyssey of loss, rage and leather skirts. As the sequel creates such a large generational gap among viewers, can we even consider this a sequel under all that plated armour and draped togas?
Regarding the 16 years of republic rule, that Rome and its colonies have been under since the death of Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), the movie introduces the current heirs and rulers to the city, tyrannous twin rulers, Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn). Both characters are whiny, waif and spoilt, drawing deserved attention from Mescal’s epic fights against Rhinos and Apes. Quinn and Hechinger’s performances felt the strongest in the cast, along with Macrinus’ (Denzel Washington) hunger for power from the onset. The comedic relief is provided with hilarious quips and one-liners from Matt Lucas’ surprise appearance, adorned with heavy blush and a gold laurel wreath. This broke up the effect of the danger and adrenaline, taking the viewer out of the seriousness that the first movie concerned itself with.
The feel is more modern, with brighter cinematography and fast-paced action
As a sequel, this movie serves its purpose of continuity and seals over any plot points. Still, the style has changed from a dark and gritty film about endurance to action-packed fights and a cat-and-mouse chase between Acacius and Lucius. The first scenes in both movies are the same; a ten-minute battle scene that throws the viewer into the violence intrinsic to the genre. The feel is more modern, with brighter cinematography and fast-paced action that benefits from its high-quality special effects and CGI. Ridley’s choice to place the second half of the movie’s action entirely in the Colosseum neatly keeps all the characters in the same place; a possible lazy choice to track multiple storylines, instead of a single narrative that would conclude in Rome. The score fills in gaps where silence would’ve been better suited but Harry Gregson-Williams did not fall short of what Hans Zimmer created in 2000 with the movie’s Academy Award-winning best original score. The iconic composition ‘Now We Are Free’ sends viewers back to the success and grandeur of the first movie, another link that pulls the stories together, and completely changes the tone of the ending to hopeful, as opposed to the first movie’s tragic ending.
At the centre of this, the plot is balanced by Mescal’s raging and strong portrayal of a lonely, grief-stricken man, with no permanent home or name to call himself by. Mescal’s previous performances include Normal People (BBC, 2020), Aftersun (2022) and All of Us Are Strangers (2023), where he plays a very different and modern character, though carrying a similar internal struggle that changes in the story. His recent popularity in the press for his very short shorts, public running habits and mullet-stache combo automatically pulled an entire generation to the cinemas securing an audience before trailer release. Mescal’s global notability isn’t as large as the saturated online space would suggest, and it’s clear his fame after the movie is subject to a similar rise as Russell Crowe’s, thanks to his Academy Award won for Best Actor (2000), playing Maximus in the original movie.
the plot is balanced by Mescal’s raging and strong portrayal
The character of Lucilla (Connie Nielson) returns as the wife of Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), after the death of her brother played by Phoenix. Her portrayal is as gracious as her performance 24 years ago but filled with more passion and rage. Nielson’s age is a large part of why her role and power in the plot has increased, given her sway within the Senate, and political power through her marriage to Acacius (Pascal). With the increase in stronger, more developed female characters within culture and film, this felt like an obligatory choice to avoid scrutiny against the silencing or lack of female characters and to link the plots of both movies.
Verdict
So, if you’re going to see the movie for historical accuracy, you will not be entertained, but the film stays true to this era of the Roman Empire. However, if you want a tanned and blood-stained Paul Mescal reciting Virgil with some fighting on the side, it’s almost faultless. As a standalone movie, it achieves a lot that the first movie could not, whilst pulling from the world Scott created, but this film can’t be viewed solely as a sequel.
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