‘Gladiator II’ Review: Paul Mescal Is a Pensive Avenger in Ridley Scott’s Serviceable but Far From Great Sequel
variety.comOwen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic It may not be high praise, but “Gladiator II,” the sequel to Ridley Scott’s landmark slash-and-burn ancient Rome spectacular, is probably about as good a movie as we could have expected it to be.
Written by David Scarpa (“Napoleon”) and directed by Scott (who, at 86, hasn’t lost his touch for the peacock pageantry of teeming masses thirsting for blood), the movie is a solid piece of neoclassical popcorn — a serviceable epic of brutal warfare, Colosseum duels featuring lavish decapitations and beasts both animal and human, along with the middlebrow “decadence” of palace intrigue.
The whole film is tailored to the next-generation specifications of its star, Paul Mescal, who plays a descendant of Russell Crowe’s Maximus (I won’t say more) and does it by not trying to imitate Crowe’s performance.
In “Gladiator,” Crowe, wielding a sword that was like an extension of his inner hostility, was the ultimate thinking person’s badass.
Read more on variety.com
