The first Gladiator film is a classic. Russell Crowe as the General who is betrayed that becomes a Gladiator to defeat the mad Commodus who killed his wife and son is a tale worthy of Homer. There was Dream that is Rome, Gladiator II is not it.. it is not it. There has been a trend lately to make sequels almost two decades after the first film that remind us we really did not need a sequel, Gladiator II is that film. I want to say it befuddles me how they botched this, there was so many ways they could have gone telling the story of Lucius, and the one they told was Meta, a Retcon, and a Remake. I will explain how it is this unholy trinity. First I want to say some positives, the film is magnificent in scale, taking us back to Ridley's earlier epics, and the battles are breathtaking, particularly the one in Africa Nova against Numidians. Pedro Pascal's performance as the General Acacius is so great, his fight choreography in the opening battle, and in the Colliseum made me gasp, and I am trained in the sword arts. In fact, this entire film should have been about Acacius, making Pedro Pascal the focal point, and had Lucius as Emperor in whom Acacius is conquering the rest of known world for, you could have an opposite dynamic to Commodus and Lucilla, where its a General and His Emperor who are close like Maximus and Marcus Aurelius is in the opening of the first Gladiator. Instead what we get it a terrible re-writing of Gladiator with retcons that frankly ruin the first film.
The most egregious change is Lucius, the boy who is to be Emperor is really the Son of Maximus Desperius Miridus. It turns out Lucilla who was his lover as referenced in the first film, gave him a son because her actual husband was a queer. This rewriting really robs Maximus' sacrifice, his death in the first Gladiator is as Savior of Rome, "There is a dream that was Rome, and it shall be realized, this is last wishes of Marcus Aurelius." Its powerful, but it turns out he was just being a good dad, as Ridley re cuts the ending with him only saying "Lucius is Safe," and removing Lucilla's "Go to them," to his real wife and child in Elysium, The Afterlife which was a major plot point of the first movie! One of best lines of the first film is, "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the TRUE emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next" (Gladirator). Well.. actually you have another Son named Hanno or Lucius and well he is Prince of Rome! You died for no reason too, because Lucilla just sends her son away after the first film because Maximus work to secure Lucius and her fate doesn't work (even though in first film it shows it does), and he grows up in Africa hating Romans, but has a Roma Hearta moment where he decides "I cannot wait to be king!" (Lion King).
Most preposterous of all is Denzel Washington/s character Macrinus. I had no problem with him being the Lord of Gladiators, it would make sense if after getting his own freedom that he might want to be on highest throne possible, he even says a line in film, "A slave seeks to have their own slaves," quoting Cicero. Oh but Hollywood could not keep him in a plausible lane, now his chariot has him ascend to commanding the Senate, a Africanus commanding a room of white men in togas to rise and sit at his whim is like something out of a fever dream of Racial Extremists like Reverend Wright. That never happened in history, in fact, none of this did, it is fiction.. and it jumps the shark literally, with Maako Sharks and Great Whites in the Coliseum. There was seafaring battles staged in the Coliseum of Rome, but no sharks.
There is an intended butchery of all the movies we loved. Disney tried to make Luke Skywalker into a failure, James Cameron destroyed his Terminator films with Dark Fate making the whole focus, John Connor, irrelevant, and now Ridley Scott has thrown trash on probably his greatest film, Gladiator, with this sequel. The concerted effort is to rain on all our favorites, to make sequels that pile on plot points to tear apart the heroes we love is not by mistake; it is a deliberate removal of heroes and replacing it with bad guys that have good reasons to be bad and witches like in Wicked. Now Gladiator II does turn Maximus into a saint, he is like a legendary figure mentioned throughout the film, even his armor with the twin horses and sword gets passed to Prince Lucius in what feels like an Arthurian moment, literally a sword from father to son to solidify the King Arthur trope. What is really terrible though is epic lines from first Gladiator are recycled to the point that most of dialogue is those lines, "What we do in life echoes in eternity," was so epic when Russel Crowe said it as Maximus in Germania in the first movie, but in this film it gets repeated like a Tweet. Other lines too like "Strength and Honor," and many more keep getting reused that I almost felt at times the movie was Meta, like The Matrix Ressurections, it took me out of the movie honestly. Oh and yes, Hanno or Lucius does the stab the Gladius sword in the soil of the Coliseum, and takes the dirt up in his hands like Maximus did as chalk just to solidify that yes indeed this is his progeny, though in case you are not certain, the actor who plays Hanno/Lucius does mannerisms and contorts his face and speaks like Russel Crowe, just in case you were not certain it was his son.
I already knew this was going to be a bad movie. I decided to watch it because I love the Roman Period because its when our Lord Jesus Christ ministered, died for our sins, and rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. The Romans were there at Calvary, one even saying, "Truly this was the Son of God." (Matthew 27:54). For two films Scott has not involved Christianity, even though this film is 200 A.D. and that was period of major persecution for Christians. They only get mentioned in passing by Denzel's character Macrinus who says Crucifixion is for slaves, Christians, and Thieves. That is the only mention of the Christian Faith. Like the first film, Scott has fascination with Paganism, he glorifies The Boatman of Death, and astral plane to Elysium or whatever after life, the film even ends with Lucius trying to do Necromancy to talk to his dead Dad Maximus. The Bible tells us to not do necromancy, "When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you," (Deuteronomy 18:9-12) and consulting the dead is folly as the Prophet Isaiah said, "And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah 8:19). Though its glorified here because Ridley Scott is an antichrist: Alien (1979) was his grand occultic work, with a true occultist on set (H.R. Giger), Kingdom of Heaven was his exposure of murderous Christians in The Crusades, and the Gladiator films are his 'triumph' of paganism. It is evident what gods Scott follows, all of them fallen angels. The problem is that at least in the first Gladiator, it makes more sense, because it is Roman pagans it is following, who do not know the Gospel. In this film it is hard to stomach there is not one Christian, I was kinda hoping the Gladiator turned Doctor would be a Christian, would make sense to switch professions, since Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48). Instead he is just a devil's breath smoker and mender of wounds.
Aside from Pedro Pascal performance in his scenes, which are exceptional, oh if he had been what this movie was about! Acacius! Acacius! His siege of the Port in Africa Nova is probably one of best I have seen of naval and land warfare from that period. It was breathtaking, and sadly that is beginning of the movie, and from there on it is descends as the quote in the movie from Virgil says, "into hell, easily." I am curious if that is from Dante's Inferno, because Virgil guides Dante through Hell and The Divine Comedy is not written till 1121yrs after when this film takes place. I would not be too surprised if it was from The Inferno, this film has an African man taking over the Senate, Army, and slaying two Roman Emperors, and it has sharks in the coliseum.. all fictions. Again if Denzel's character remained like Antonius Proximoin the first film who owned and provided gladiators to coliseums, then I would have loved the character, its not Denzel's race I take issue with, its that what he does in the film is not historical. It is the Visigoths and Vandals, Caucasian races that bring Rome to its inevitable fall in 476 A.D. In fact, this movie was a wasted opportunity. Scott could have abandoned a direct sequel and gone to the Fall of Rome, and let people see on his expertise of grandeur, the event that shaped Western Civilization as we know it, that created Europe.
While lines like "what we do in life echoes in eternity" stuck with me from first Gladiator, only one line from this movie really was worth ruminating on, "the best revenge is not to be like the one who performed the injury." Which is said by Macrinus (Denzel). The line reminded me of how Jesus commanded us to forgive, to let go of the injury, and that is the path to not becoming like the one who injured us. So I will say one quote I shall keep from the film, but honestly, I have not intent of seeing this film again, I shall re watch the first one for the hundredth time instead. Amen.
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