Gladiator II

"Nicely done! "

"This whole movie at 2 hours and 39 minutes seemed somehow rushed ..the fight scenes were grand and dramatic. The cast of course was stellar but realizing who the gladiator actually was (came to me in the middle of the movie) this could have been written better and the focus be more on him. The water colleseum scene was over top but I really loved it. Come there was sharks! I do believe Denzel Washington was a bit miscast for this. An amazing actor really acting his hutt off but just in the wrong vehicle. Pedro was a bit too. Entertaining film but not as good as the first one."

" Almost as good as the original until it gets a bit goofy towards the end."

"I really liked this film! As someone who really disliked the first film, this was a massive improvement for me. A very solid follow up that continues the story of Lucius (the young boy from the first film) who ends up following a similar path to Maximus in terms of becoming a gladiator. Phenomenal costume and production design paired with improved cinematography and VFX (2 aspects I intensely disliked from the first film). Paul Mescal does a decent job as the grown up Lucius, while Denzel Washington is easily the film’s MVP (chews the scenery with glimmers of TRAINING DAY present) followed closely by Connie Nielsen (who serves as the film’s heart) (both of them deserve to be nominated for this IMO). Ridley Scott also deserves praise for his stamina and making a film of such an epic scale at age 86. Worth a watch. Fun fact: If Denzel Washington gets nominated, it’ll be his 10th acting Oscar nomination, tying him with Sir Laurence Olivier as the 2nd most nominated male actor ever and putting him only behind 12-time nominee Jack Nicholson. Would be cool to see him join their ranks."

"Once I was able to suspend my disbelief and throw out any historical accuracy, I was able to love this for its action, gore, and cast. It's your average masculine flick- awesome speeches to rally the troops, a muscular MC with incredible plot armor, politics & royalty, a plot for revolution, lots of bloodshed, and sharks. It's awesome, as long as that's the kind of thing you're into. At first glance, I thought, "hey at least there's some beautiful men and cool fight scenes." (This is correct). Near the end I thought, "yeah, I got what I paid for in sheer carnage and cute men so, I'm good." Enjoy it if you can, but know it's not going to fill the hole that the 2000's iconic gladiator age did, nor will it convince you to love it if you don't already love masculine plotlines"

"Very nice follow up to the first one. I like the first one even more but what a well played plot and character development for a follow up. "

"First take: Boring next-generation reboot with a powerful last scene. While the two emporers played devious well, Denzel The Great was grossly miscast imo and the chemistry between actors wasn't there."

"Entertaining movie that's great with popcorn. Not as good as the original but I liked it. "

"My Opinion: (Pros in comments section) (-) This felt like a badly thought out after-thought from the original movie. The narrative seems to go through the motions as it unfolds. There are nice easter egg tie-ins with the first film, but some plot-elements seem tacked on while trying to make it look like it was purposely conceived to be a certain way. The main character's parentage is one example. It reminded me of the Luke and Leia sibling connection in RETURN OF THE JEDI, only with who his father really is. Watching the first film does hint at a relationship that might have taken place, but the dynamics and nuances aren't quite there. This reveal would have taken place in that movie first. It may not bother people who will only see this film, but for me it seemed forced. Another gripe was the lack of depth the script had with a fairly more complex plot. GLADIATOR is in essence a revenge story, but this sequel is more of a Shakespearean drama, which I think needed more depth. I like that by the end of the movie the protagonist/antagonist roles are not what we expect, but also the idea of a good guy vs bad guy plot becomes very boring. If it had been a statement about how these people are reliving the same mistakes that humanity finds themselves in then it would be more interesting. Instead it concludes with a violent showdown as if it was on the same level as the original, which it isn't. It's actually more interesting, but with other films at this level it doesn't even scratch the surface. I also did not like the heavy use of CGI which at times felt like Zack Snyder's 300. It also features some CGI animals that are badly rendered. I was shocked at how horrible it looked. It made me miss the previous films traditional style. It too had some bad CGI in certain scenes, but nothing like in this film. Even the water scenes made me feel like I was watching a video game cut-scene. "

"I was pretty curious how this story would continue since it ended on such a final note. Turns out this wasn't a cash grab and they did have another story to tell but it wasn't really needed. Lucius was sent away to protect him as a child and ends up in the same position as Maximus....a slave fighting as a gladiator. The twin rulers are horrible people and there is this sub plot with the general and overthrowing them. This movie pretty much follows all of the same plot points with the exception of Denzels character who is the owner of the gladiators with his own agenda. He pretty much steals every scene he is in and hams it up. He looked like he was having fun but I think he was too big a star for this part. He just didn't fit to me. The action was good but everything was a step below the original. It was a decent sequel ut ultimately had nothing new to say and we could have done without it. Please check out my podcast Mostly Low Budget Movies Reviews with Clarence for a full break down. On all streaming platforms. Link is in the bio. Thank you!"