I hope to be as half as busy and productive as Ridley Scott at his ripe, seasoned age. Here is the long gestating sequel to the Oscar-winning "Gladiator", starring Russell Crowe. With Paul Mescal as an apparent unknown warrior in a distant land, we watch as the title credits end, and Pedro Pascal's Roman general seizes a new capital for the tyrant twin emporers waiting back home in Rome. Enslaved, Mescal's character is bought by Denzel Washington's Roman citizen, an up-and-comer, a man with a devious plan. This sequel is a bloody, gripping and visually stunning sword-and-sandal epic. With perhaps less poetry than the first, we're catered to a tragic story deeply interwoven with the story of the first film and Crowe's Maximus ... and perhaps that's my only criticism. I feel we too are in a darker world now where it appears people are choosing power over principles, selfishness over empathy. A deeply felt and true story, one that strikes the chords of the soul and seems to depict actual life or history, is never so simple, never so coincidental. Fate may have a plan for us all but it's usually far muddier and opaque. This story plays out like a classic Greek tragedy, where the moral lesson requires all the pieces of the narrative to be just so, allowing for grand speeches and actions. Picture perfect. Emporers rise and fall, and we the audience get to clap, weep, and cheer, and then plod back into our real muddy existences.
I've decided to start rating the films I'm grateful to see. No rating is a critique on the efforts of the many involved. Each film is a work of art, even the ones I consider a dud, and I honor the energy each person provided to their task.
PS - Paul Mescal needs to call me. Holy hell, that man is thunderously attractive.
I give "Gladiator II": 🍿🍿🍿🍿
🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 = Excellent
🍿🍿🍿🍿 = Good
🍿🍿🍿 = Ok
🍿🍿 = Meh
🍿 = Read a book
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