The best thing I can say about Gladiator II is that it’s rather entertaining, if only just that. It’s typical popcorn fare where you sit down, prepare to enjoy yourself, and not think about it too much afterwards. That’s essentially how the first movie was, but due to it winning all sorts of awards (including Best Picture), I think that time has painted that movie in a different light than it should have been perceived as - instead of being a fun, big, loud and entertaining spectacle, it turned into something of a serious, dark, deep and complex tale of revenge and politics. While you can say those elements are alive in both of these movies, you can’t really take them seriously as anything but just standard fun to be had at the movies.
Or at home. Om your couch. Like how I watched this.
But guess what? There’s nothing wrong with that - Gladiator II feels like the kind of big-budgeted, adult-like blockbuster we used to get, but so rarely do anymore. The IP itself isn’t something that we needed (and if anything it drags the story down every time there’s ever a discussion about characters from the first movie), but the idea of a big, loud, almost dumb, and rather gory action-epic where people slice and dice one another, becoming a thing again (much like it did in the early aughts after Gladiator came out) makes me somewhat happy? Hell, maybe even hopeful? Maybe? Perhaps?
I don’t know. What I can say is that Gladiator II is a fun movie, and that’s about it. There’s nothing really dark, or deep, or even really complex about the movie instead that it’s essentially a remake of the first movie, but this time, with a bigger-budget, more CGI, and surprisingly a little longer. Sure, there’s more action to help keep the movie moving, but you also can’t help but feel like director Ridley Scott just said to himself at one point during shooting, “Aw! Well hell! Let’s put sharks in this!”.
And that, they do. Among other things, like a rather campy and loving-it-all Denzel as the conniving Macrinus, the aide to whoever is in power next. In fact, you can really place anything more emotionally complex on this movie on the fact that Denzel is just stealing the show, every single second he gets, which is mostly due to the fact that he seems like the only one having any sort of fun with the material; everyone here and everything else is so drowned-out and serious, that it almost feels like everyone believed in the shit they were spewing. By just having a ball with the material and essentially winking at the audience, Denzel keeps things exciting and movie, even when it seems like he’s working against the material. But who cares, because it’s Denzel and the man has charisma, baby!
More than any of us ever could!
Song of the Day: “Risk” - Gracie Abrams
New gf of Paul Mescal, Gracie Abrams (who is also the daughter of JJ, yes the director) seems to be pop-culture’s new “it girl” and honestly, I am not entirely sure how long it’ll last. I know that she has a rather similar, slightly edgy, but still poppy sound that almost every other pop female artist has nowadays (Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, etc.), so I guess we shall see. All I can say though is that it’s funny that Mescal was once dating Phoebe Bridgers, who was at one time an opener for T Swift on her Eras tour, and now, he’s with another one of her openers. Funny how life goes sometimes. Especially when you’re a hot, young Irish lad. Not me, of course! Not me.
-Dan O.