Can you name them all of the NEW Seven Wonders of the World from memory? Personally, I was not aware there was a list of both the Old and New ones; from what I have researched, the New wonders were chosen by a public vote while the Old Wonders were chosen by a select group of travelers. Knowing this, there are now a few more items I am hoping the see in the next few years, and one of them is featured in this week’s review.
Gladiator II is the latest film from Ridley Scott and stars Paul Mescal, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, and Derek Jacobi. Taking place sixteen years after the end of Gladiator, Rome is now ruled by twins Caracalla (Hechinger) and Geta (Quinn), who are both mentally unstable and corrupt. Their armies are still out conquering additional lands, led by General Marcus Acacius (Pascal), who is also married to Marcus Aurelius’ widow, Lucilla (Nielsen). While Acacius is conquering Numidia, they capture Hanno (Mescal), a warrior who is sold into being a gladiator for Macrinus (Washington) as Rome starts to fall into chaos and Hanno’s revenge plot takes a number of twists and turns.
There is a great mix between CGI and practical sets, even blending in scenes like the ones that take place at the Colosseum, enhancing the presentation overall. The acting is fine and on-par with the first film with Mescal doing well as the man who chooses to stay mysterious even in the face of the truth. It was also good to see Nielsen and Jacobi return to their roles, adding more to the story.
For the story itself, I thought it was good but not great. This is a good attempt at continuing the story of the original film, but it did not fully finish the job. The mix of action political drama is good, but the film did feel a little long at two and a half hours. There is about fifteen to twenty minutes that could have been cut, but I did not dread the run time. My other issue was the suspension of disbelief, especially seen in a sequence at about the midpoint of the film. It just felt like that particular part stretched things a bit too far and was more about the visuals of it than anything else.
Overall, I liked Gladiator II, but I did not love it and is not as good as the first one. However, due to the visuals, I will recommend this film as matinee showing in the theaters.
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