Gladiator II Review: Denzel Washington’s Performance Is The Ultimate Champion In Honorable Yet Disheveled Sequel

Looking back, after director Ridley Scott made a name for himself with the science-fiction masterpieces that are Alien and Blade Runner, there was something ironic about him going back to the time of the Roman Empire for his first film of the 21st Century with 2000’s Gladiator. It’s clearly greatly informed his career since, however, considering Scott has spent plenty of time satisfying the passion for bringing together more epic period pieces and historical adaptations to life, especially in the past few years with movies like The Last Duel and Napoleon.

There has been a path paved for him to the world of the sword-and-sandal epic with Gladiator II. Of course, considering Gladiator was a blockbuster that remained in cinemas for over a year before earning the honor of Best Picture, we certainly didn’t think it’d take this long to get made.

Now that it’s here, it’s not necessarily the arrival of buzzy talents like Paul Mescal or Pedro Pascal that makes it particularly special, but Denzel Washington making his first big screen event film in at least a decade. Beyond that, the director also clearly demonstrates that he still knows how to recapture the scale of the genre as he did nearly 25 years ago – however, it's Achilles' heel is there is a rushed quality about Gladiator II that unfortunately shines through.

Ridley Scott delivers on another immersive period piece full of brutal action that builds on the original film.

Gladiator II opens by introducing audiences to Lucius (Paul Mescal) fifteen years after the character’s role in the original film. Lucius is living a simple life in Numidia with his wife when the Romans enter on ships and a riveting battle incites at the province's walls. The production catches the audience's attention right away with a very detailed and period-accurate feeling sequence that goes back and forth between Lucius’ perspective and the introduction of Roman general Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal).

There’s a swiftness about the Roman army that puts Lucius in just about the same boat as Russell Crowe’s Maximus was, setting the table for a new legacy sequel from Hollywood. Lucius sets sail for Rome as a prisoner of war, and after he catches attention for being particularly audacious and rough when faced with combat and violence, he is then bought by Macrinus (Denzel Washington) to become one of his gladiators.

Lucius is motivated by getting revenge on the actions of Marcus in particular as the Roman general who tore him from his home, and he agrees to fight for Macrinus if he promises retribution. Macrinus assures him of it, and Lucius’ tenacious fighting style quickly becomes the talk of Rome at the Colosseum.

Each battle Lucius fights has an exciting edge to it that carries across the runtime of Gladiator II, with each new scene adding more stakes and exciting set pieces. Lucius goes from fighting one-on-one with nothing but his fists to fighting alongside fellow gladiators in a scene involving the Colosseum being filled with water and ships to entertain its crowd, and it'll get theater crowds going too.

There’s a host of solid performances in Gladiator II, but Denzel Washington absolutely steals this sequel.

While Mescal doesn't quite follow the same level of strength and honor of Russell Crowe's Maximus (was anyone going to?), the indie darling successfully brings a softness to the role of Lucius that isn't easy to find in such a testosterone-heavy character. Though, somehow, the road to really getting behind the protagonist and his performance takes some churning to fully invest in. The return of Connie Nielsen's Lucilla certainly aids into this, but their estrangement almost goes a step too far. Whether that is intentional or if the two performers didn't have very good chemistry is left unclear

As Lucius goes on the hero’s journey reminiscent of Maximus', it’s made clear early on that Pescal’s Marcus comes home to Rome haunted by the cries of another community of people that have fallen under the the sword of his army. It’s a new and exciting layer of Gladiator to have the villain to Lucius be shown in another light behind the scenes, and it allows Pascal to wield his charm as he naturally does. Pascal also gets to play against type for what one would expect for an army general, which mostly works.

And rather than Joaquin Phoenix’s diabolical Commodus, Gladiator II has Rome being run by twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger), who are sheltered by their throne and seem blissfully unaware of how their power is quietly turning Rome against them. Both actors disappear into their roles and bring something fresh to Gladiator II that sets them apart from Commodus as more playful and careless leaders to Rome.

While it’s mostly fun and games for those two, Denzel Washington brings the intensity Commodus had to his role in the 2000 original as he watches and crafts Lucius into his champion. The tension Washington brings is one that beautifully simmers and plays with your mind. Is he trustworthy, or just incredibly likable and the kind of detestable one hopes to be? Washington delivers a lightness to Macrinus that suggests the actor had a lot of fun bringing to life, and is takes away a level of control from the audience that leaves us no choice but to sit back and watch how he puppeteers Lucius’ rage for his own business.

While there’s a lot about Gladiator II that one can see coming given how it blueprints the first one, Washington effortlessly brings the right kind of chaos to the sequel it very much needed.

Despite its epic runtime, Gladiator II somehow has a hurried quality to it that undercuts its emotional weight.

Is Gladiator II a crowdpleaser? Absolutely. But at the same time, there's a frustrating aspect to the movie because of how rushed it often feels despite the time it asks of its audience. Across two-and-a-half hours, there are plenty of scenes where it feels as if one is being told a story from a sped-up voice that doesn't know how to hang on those emotional beats that allows us to really stop and feel what's being presented to us. As you can imagine from a movie like Gladiator, more than a few key characters die during it, but it doesn't demonstrate patience with many of its moments that could have made this Gladiator a more powerful film. This also lends itself to the movie feeling rather disjointed at times and not as complete. Then again, in true Ridley Scott fashion, perhaps that is because there's a director's cut on the way?

In a movie that has so many moving parts and plot lines from the original to callback to, add on to, and build upon, it's how the Ridley Scott film finds new avenues to explore its world that are its true pillars of strength and honor. And, Denzel Washington has a controlled turmoil to bring to Gladiator II that sells it best of all.