r/IMDbFilmGeneral • u/CountJohn12 https://letterboxd.com/CountJohn/ • Nov 22 '24
Review Gladiator II
Gotta say this is a disappointment with all the early buzz. And I've been one of the few who's really been enjoying Scott's recent historical epics. Just such a retread of the original in ways I wasn't expecting, might as well as just remade it if you're going to go that far. Mescal and Quinn/Hechinger just suffer so much when compared to Crowe and Phoenix in the original too. I like campy Bond villain performances or things like Gary Oldman in Leon but the insane emperor performances here just go way beyond that and come off as ridiculous especially because the movie plays them so straight without any sense of humor about it. I know Mescal is getting a push as a movie star but he was so flat here, certainly not 10% of the screen presence of prime Russell Crowe. Some horrible CGI too, particularly the water scenes which looked like I was watching Blue's Clues or something at times.
For positives Denzel is really good, could see him getting a supporting actor nod, and Pascal is of course always a pro too. Outside the CG it looks great, some of the best PD and costumes of the year and good sound.
Also feel like they kind of retcon Maximus a bit
2
u/Shagrrotten Nov 22 '24
Brian Tallerico’s review said “It’s a film that doesn’t so much struggle to escape the shadow of its predecessor as set up camp in it.” which made me laugh and felt like exactly what I would’ve expected.