The last time I saw a sequel that I felt had no business even existing, it turned out to be really quite good (Blade Runner 2049). Given Sir Ridley Scott's involvement in the follow-up to the Best Picture Oscar-winner of 2000, it seemed foolhardy not to give Gladiator II a chance.
In the end, GII is not much of a patch on the original, but it is a pretty solid night out with a lot of great qualities.
The sequel still carries its lineage of epic scale delineated bith gruesome interpersonal violence, from the opening siege of Roman galleys on Numidia, to the bloody and fantastic battles in the Colosseum. Sure, liberties are taken regarding historical accuracies, but I would prefer to see a trebuchet slinging Greek fire onto a ship as oppsed to a catapult any day of the week and twice on Sunday. And the co-ruling bother Emperors Geta and Caracalla were just as legit as wanna-be gladiator Commodus, after a fashion.
Starting out as an analogue to Oliver Reed's gladiator master Proximo in the first film, Denzel's Macrinus crafts an agenda that he leverages with his rageful new fighter Hanno (Paul Mescal). Denzel owns every scene he is in without scenery chewing - hell, seemingly wihout effort. At one point I whispered to Audrey, "I can imagine him saying, 'I had so much fun I forgot to get them to pay me'..."
The first Gladiator is one of my all-time faves, and as much as I respect Steven Soderbergh, I still think the Academy boned this one by not giving Ridley Scott the Best Director statue to go with Best Picture. And watching this film while remembering the first really highlights the areas it comes up short.
Paul Mescal is a good actor who brings palpable rage and sinewy competence to his action sequences, but he lacks the magnetism and power of Russell Crowe in his prime - I mean, I can't think of any comparable modern actors, in fact. The story glosses over his leadership and the way other fighters look to him for guidance, despite him being shown as a capable and inspirational leader in the opening battle. But the movie does not play out in a completely straightforward fashion and at least there are a couple of surprises in store.
Harry Gregson-Williams has done a lot of great scores, but as the film wraps up and they start homaging "Now We Are Free" from Hans Zommer's immaculate score from 2000 and Lisa Gerrard's vocals, it really brought home to me just how much more heart the original had. I remember welling up when Connie Nielsen demands the Praetorians bear Maximus' body out of the Colosseum as a soldier of Rome, and I think I felt a little let down that I didn't experience anything close to that during this film.
But that is not to say it is a bad film! I ranked this one a 7 on IMDb, as opposed to the 9 I gave the original, and I will likely watch it again at home at some point.
And at the end of the day, being entertained is the idea, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment