Gladiator II

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I’m always intrigued by sequels that have 20 year gaps, like this one. Gladiator came out in May 2000 and Gladiator II came out November 2024 but the alignment was pretty accurate. I feel like they had to go out of their way to make the movies connect but they ultimately did it. The character-importance was fairly confusing in the end because it seemed Hanno’s wife, Arishat was relevant to the story but she in fact was not. They also set the seen for the character of Jugurtha (played by Peter Mensah) to be relevant to the movie almost in the same sense of Juba’s character in the first Gladiator, but he in fact was not either. I think the movie was written out of excitement and maybe a little force. It doesn’t seem to have been an organic process… which could also be the reason it took 24 years for the sequel to come out. Personally, as a writer, I’ve been there before. At the time this review is being released I currently have 4 published books and I definitely rushed two of them. The storylines were shaky and could’ve gone into more detail, just like this film. The important connection of Lucius, Lucilla, and Maximus was there but the tiny connections that give a project that *chefs kiss* was missing. A movie with this sort of budget and anticipation should’ve had more Easter eggs and character relevancy. I do want to shoutout the wardrobe team, they did an amazing job in regard to costume. Especially for Macrinus (played by Denzel Washington), they had his character in the finest of fabrics. The two emperors also looked PSYCHOTIC just like a couple of fragile Europeans with money would in that day. The frail skin and orange hair gave off Hunger Games vibes in a comical way. Speaking of Macrinus, his character was all over the place. Normally, Denzel’s characters are clear on who they are from the jump. That was not the case in this film so I’m surprised he took the role. It could be because he enjoyed the story or because he was a huge fan of the first one, nevertheless it was different. I’d give this movie a 7/10. It wasn’t bad but it definitely could’ve been better, the potential and resources were there. Lastly, I just want everyone reading this to visit Rome and see the Colosseum in person. It’s a cool thing to see on tv and online but once you place your own two eyes on it, it brings a certain reality of what really used to happen in there to life. Are you not ENTERTAINED? 


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