Gladiator II review – Paul Mescal slays in Ridley Scott’s gobsmacking reboot
Scott’s return to the Roman arena is something of a repeat, but it’s still a thrilling spectacle and Mescal a formidable lead. We are entertained
What’s Latin for “Groundhog Day”? Once upon a time, Russell Crowe’s beefy hero Maximus in Ridley Scott’s sword-and-sandal classic Gladiator was the honest soldier outside the snickering metropolitan elite, out to gain vengeance and redeem Roman honour in the blood-spattered arena, his raw courage exposing the politicians’ contemptible decadence. His defiant cry “Are you not entertained?” spoke to the showbiz-political complex of our own time and when it was alleged last year that most men thought about ancient Rome every day, the suspicion was that what they were actually thinking about was … that film.
Now we are a generation along, and little has changed, in fact almost nothing. This sequel is watchable and spectacular, with the Colosseum created not digitally but as a gobsmacking 1-to-1 scale physical reconstruction with real crowds. Yet this film is weirdly almost a next-gen remake, effectively reincarnating almost every single narrative component of the original in a variant form, the events of the first film echoing in franchise eternity.
Continue reading...-
"Gladiator II" star Paul Mescal
Top stories - CBS News - 3 days ago -
Paul Mescal on stepping into the arena as Lucius in "Gladiator II"
Top stories - CBS News - 20 hours ago -
Ridley Scott on ‘Gladiator II,” Denzel Washington and Joaquin Phoenix
Top stories - The New York Times - November 7 -
"Gladiator II" star Paul Mescal on his relationship with fame
Top stories - CBS News - 3 days ago -
Gladiator II takes $87m to break Ridley Scott opening box-office record
World - The Guardian - 3 days ago -
Ridley Scott says Denzel Washington’s same-sex kiss in Gladiator II ‘didn’t happen’
World - The Guardian - 2 days ago -
'Gladiator II' director claims gay kiss Denzel Washington says was cut 'didn't happen'
Top stories - NBC News - Yesterday -
Paul Mescal interviews Ridley Scott: ‘I was so ahead of the game. The Oxbridge lot were aghast’
World - The Guardian - 6 days ago -
Ridley Scott Clarifies Those Gladiator 3 Reports
Tech - GameSpot - October 23
More from The Guardian
-
ICC issues arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Mohamed Deif over alleged war crimes – Middle East live
World - The Guardian - 19 minutes ago -
Ukraine claims Russia fired intercontinental ballistic missile at Dnipro
World - The Guardian - 1 hour ago -
John Prescott, British former deputy prime minister, dies aged 86
World - The Guardian - 4 hours ago -
Transgender woman wins record payout in China after electroshock treatment
World - The Guardian - 3 hours ago -
Cop29 climate finance deal hits fresh setback as deadline looms
World - The Guardian - 4 hours ago