Gladiator 2 - Review

I really, really love medieval-themed war movies. This is why Gladiator was special to me. The opening scene depicting the final skirmish between Romans and Germanic barbarians was just simply a masterpiece all in its own. And the movie as a whole is probably one of the greatest in our generation.

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And so when I heard news of a sequel, I was quite skeptical. I knew this is another Hollywood cash grab, trying to profit off a beloved standalone movie that needed no followups. And so when I actually watched it, I tried not to compare it too much with the original movie. But I found it hard to do as Gladiator 2 constantly reminded its audience that it was a sequel by showing stock clips of the original Gladiator.

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But that's not to say that the film did not any merit. For one, the visuals were obviously improved considering the gap between the two. But then again, there's also a certain charm to having practical effects than relying mainly on CGI. I also enjoyed the performances of some of the actors especially Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal. It's just that their characters' backstories somehow did not jive well into each other and I felt like it could have been highlighted more.

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Now, probably my biggest pet-peeve in this movie is that the plot is like a rehash of the first. I mean, it must be since it was also titled 'Gladiator.' But it felt like Maximus' character was split into two with this movie. His enslaved and Gladiator side was played by Lucius while his general and rebellion plot-thwarted side was given to Acacius. The same goes for the villains as you can probably say that the first film's Commodus had its character split between Caracalla-Geta and Macrinus.

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Then there's the elephant in the room that we needed to address. Having tigers, baboons, and even rhinoceros-riding gladiators, I can accept as there's a certain plausibility to it. Having the entire arena flooded in water and hosting a naval battle, it's a bit farfetched, but probably doable. But going the distance and putting great white sharks? That's absurd as it's not even possible in modern times as they quickly die in captivity. And even if ancient Rome somehow managed to pull a scenario like this, I don't think the stressed out sharks would even be in any condition to attack humans.

So the final question is, "Am I not entertained?" I was. It's just I was still disappointed even with my expectations lowered. Watching this film made me longing to rewatch the original Gladiator. I'd like to think Gladiator 2 as a non-canon movie and something that existed in a different universe.