“Gladiator II” Draws Mixed Critical Reactions, Described as Both ‘Gobsmacking’ and ‘Loopy’

The film “Gladiator II,” Ridley Scott’s much-anticipated follow-up to his 2000 epic, has garnered a range of reactions from movie critics. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian characterized the film as a “thrilling spectacle” and a “gobsmacking reboot.” In his four-star assessment, he also commended Paul Mescal’s portrayal of Lucius, the illegitimate son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus, referring to Mescal as a “formidable lead.” Nevertheless, Bradshaw concurred with the majority of critics that despite being an enjoyable viewing experience, the movie does not entirely match the standard of the Oscar-winning original. Robbie Collin, writing for The Telegraph, stated, “It isn’t quite as strong as its predecessor,” adding, “But it is still the year’s most relentlessly entertaining blockbuster.” Collin further remarked in his four-star review, “You miss Russell Crowe, but Mescal is always watchable, with a stocky, swarthy, brooding presence.” The FT’s critique lauded veteran director Ridley Scott for his “stubborn charm,” “belligerent swagger,” and “ideas that are more pulpy and loopy.” Danny Leigh, who awarded the film three stars, penned, “The best of the film is its sheer bloody-minded heft, a blockbuster fuelled by an insistence on bigger, sillier, movie-r.” However, Leigh also expressed that he’d “be amazed if the sequel is remembered by Christmas, let alone in 24 years.” Owen Gleiberman of Variety commented that although the sequel constituted a “solid piece of neoclassical popcorn,” it is “ultimately a mere shadow” of its predecessor. Gleiberman additionally observed that despite Mescal’s commendable performance, he exhibits “an anger that never quite simmers to a boil” and that “we now can’t help but see him as a millennial knockoff of Crowe’s glowering royal punk.” Clarisse Loughrey, in a four-star review for The Independent, also praised the 86-year-old Scott, noting his apparent diminishing concern for conventions and expectations with age. Loughrey wrote, “Gladiator II is equal in scale and spectacle, and weighted with metaphor, but it’s also shot through with the kind of wry, absurdist slant that’s come to dominate Scott’s work of the last decade and a half,” concluding, “At times, Gladiator II is pure camp.” The Hollywood Reporter stated that the movie offers more expansive and daring action sequences, attributed to progress in digital technology. These include “heavily armed gladiators riding a charging rhinoceros” and “wounded men tumbling from boats into the jaws of ravenous sharks” during a naval confrontation set in the Colosseum’s inundated arena. David Rooney expressed a less positive view of Mescal’s portrayal, describing it as “a tad flat at times” and noting his emotional range as “sticking mostly to the same notes of brooding intensity and simmering rage.” Kevin Maher of The Times also critiqued Mescal, asserting that he “disappoints in this dreary, Marvel-esque sequel.” In his two-star assessment, Maher characterized the film as a “scattershot effort with half-formed characters and undernourished plotlines that seem to exist only in conversation with the Russell Crowe original.” Maher added, “There is no substantial story this time around, and no driving ideas in the hotchpotch screenplay.” William Bibbiani of The Wrap concurred, stating that while the film “has everything it needs in the action department, it’s the story that falls apart.” Bibbiani elaborated, “The whole thing hangs on contrivance and familiarity, not characters, so the fights don’t seem to matter much.” Nevertheless, both Bibbiani and Maher highlighted Denzel Washington’s strong performance as Macrinus, a Machiavellian former slave who now profits from gladiators. Maher commented that the film “only ignites when Denzel Washington’s brilliant, bisexual slave manager is on screen.” This sentiment was echoed by other critics, with The Guardian remarking that Washington “almost steals the entire picture,” and The Hollywood Reporter describing his performance as “lip-smacking.” Empire’s four-star review also lauded additional cast members, noting Pedro Pascal as “as charismatic as ever.” Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, portraying Roman Emperor twins, were said to “rival Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus from the original Gladiator in terms of crazed volatility and also have a distinct whiff of the ultimate mad emperor Caligula.”