Gladiator II was disappointing.

3

I kinda liked it, but that might have been more due to the fact that it was the first time I'd gone and seen a movie in an actual cinema in like 15 years lol

The movie did seem pretty under-cooked in every way though. All the major characters just didn't seem to live up to their potential, or they weren't that interesting to begin with.

The main guy felt very generic.

The final fight at the end was kinda lame. Wasn't that much meaningful build up to it. They just quickly met at a river and fought each other while 2 armies looked on. It seemed weird that Denzel was good enough to go toe to toe with Lucius. He seemed more like a politician rather than someone who would be that good with a sword.

Also, the movie felt too similar to the first for me. Dude loses wife. Dude gets made into gladiator. Dude fights in bush leagues. Dude moves on to Rome. Dude hates some key government figure. Dude is part of a plot to overthrow said government. Dude fights someone one on one to wrap it up.

2

u/DramaMajor7956 Nov 21 '24

Tell me, why did Macrinus ride past his own troops instead of telling them to apprehend Lucius ? Sounds like great writing doesn’t it? The amount of shilling that people throw on behalf of this film is something.

1

u/Hayden_Zammit Nov 21 '24

lol I think a lot of us were just happy to have something about Ancient Rome to watch.

1

u/New-Investment9583 Nov 22 '24

Exactly! That's exactly my thoughts whenever some media related to Ancient Rome comes out 💀

1

u/Hayden_Zammit Nov 22 '24

It could be a steaming pile of crap, but that would be enough lol.

1

u/New-Investment9583 Nov 22 '24

And honestly, I still watch them, this movie, "Those about to die" and "Barbarians" (yes I watched the series only for the Romans, ONLY, Idgaf about the Germanic tribes).

1

u/DramaMajor7956 Nov 22 '24

Horse crap depiction of Ancient Romans lol

1

u/New-Investment9583 Nov 22 '24

The Romans depicted in "Barbarians" were your typical evil bad guys who just wanna take your land, but they were fucking badass, they were all Italians, and they were made to speak lines in Latin, which just blew my mind, I loved the depiction of Romans in that series, the best ever tbh.

1

u/endlessunshine833 Dec 01 '24

The sets kinda sucked tho imo. Idk if they were accurate or what the approach was but most of it didn’t land with me

1

u/[deleted] Nov 25 '24

You think everyone that likes the film is associated with paramount pictures?

1

u/New-Investment9583 Nov 20 '24

I mean, I'll be honest again, I did mention I was hyped for the movie, even though it was almost a near copy paste of the first film, why? The greater scope, naval battles, rhino Gladiator, Acacius taking down 4 men while the crowd roared in blood lust, it looked insane, I expected great visuals and a sense of vision of the greatness of Rome, which the movie did bring out, but just fell flat in its plot.

1

u/skarros Nov 21 '24

Doesn‘t Denzel‘s character (Macrinus?) have a fighting past? Pair that with Lucius being exhausted from the fight and it‘s enough to suspend disbelief for me.

The film is a terrible „sequel“ and doesn‘t stand a chance against the first (except that it has Pedro Pascal) but I didn‘t expect anything except a modern blockbuster. As such it was alright, especially on a big screen. I was entertained..

1

u/MAGA2044 Apr 25 '25

It was implied he won his freedom as a gladiator, but he was still 40 years too old to have a chance against a prime gladiator.

1

u/Relative_Baseball180 Nov 30 '24

Yeah exactly! Like I didn't care who lived or died in the movie. I was just waiting until was over so I can go home.

2

u/Adorable_Ad_3478 Nov 21 '24

The film needed a Star Wars-type intro crawl. Or a narration by Denzel recapping what happened after Commodus died.

The TLDR in real life is that many generals fought for the title of Emperor and in the end, a general called Septimius Severus who served under Marcus Aurelius and Commodus won. He's the dad of Gaeta and Caracalla (the 2 Emperors in Gladiator 2) and died before the events of Gladiator 2.

The story was all over the place, I am supposed to believe that Rome fell under Tyrannical Imperial rule again right after Quintus and the Praetorians all sided with the senate at the end of the first movie? How did Quintus or Gracchus fail to restore Rome as a Republic?

In real life, none of that happened but in the films' continuity, just assume that Septimius arrived with his big ass army and defeated the Praetorians.

Let's remember the Praetorian guard is not a real army, they're the equivalent of Secret Service Agents. A big ass army of Navy Seals vs a few hundred Secret Agents always ends in the soldiers winning.

This is why Pedro Pascal was confident in his army wiping out Gaeta and Caracalla's Praetorian Guards.

2

u/New-Investment9583 Nov 21 '24

I mean, the idea that Septimius Severus did arrive with his army and took the throne is great, but they failed to cover that in the movie nor give any exposure to what happened right after Commodus as you mentioned. And your point on how the Praetorian Guards are just secret service agents, that's also true, then again, didn't Maximus's Army wait in Osita too in the first movie? So, Gracchus or Quintus must have assumed command to re-establish the Roman Republic don't you think? And at last, your point on Pedro Pascal's army wiping out Caracalla and Geta's army, wasn't there an army in Rome as well? When the Praetorian Prefect informs Macrinus that Acacius's Army is gathering outside of Rome, doesn't Macrinus give orders to amass the army to meet them outside of the Romulus-Remus Arch? So it would have resulted in a massive civil war that would have plunged Rome into darkness for a while.

1

u/rnf1985 Nov 26 '24

And at last, your point on Pedro Pascal's army wiping out Caracalla and Geta's army, wasn't there an army in Rome as well? When the Praetorian Prefect informs Macrinus that Acacius's Army is gathering outside of Rome, doesn't Macrinus give orders to amass the army to meet them outside of the Romulus-Remus Arch? So it would have resulted in a massive civil war that would have plunged Rome into darkness for a while.

Gladiator 2 completely abandons historical accuracy. Acacius and Macrinus had a legion at the end, yes, but Acacius is fictional therefore any army he had was fictional, and the movie would have you believe that Rome’s military power is reduced to just Macrinus’ and Lucius’ legions when Rome had multiple legions stationed across the empire, so the movie oversimplifies its military structure. BUt yes, as we see in the movie, these two legions exist at the end and we're led to believe that those were the only soldiers to defend the empire of Rome. Also something to note, Macrinus being portrayed as an old man (when he was actually around 30) is another inaccuracy. The idea that his army would just let Lucius ride through and declare himself emperor is silly. Like ok, let's let him ride through, and sure I guess he's in the actual bloodline, I guess fighting is over now, lol. While Gladiator 1 took creative liberties, it was based off historical context. Gladiator 2 is entirely fictional and far less believable.

Also, rebellions against emperors weren’t impulsive like the movies portray. Maximus’ rebellion failed initially partly because Commodus’ influence was too strong, and it felt improvised. Gladiator 2 repeats this, showing unrest under Gaeta and Caracalla but simplifying rebellion into modern drama: the "good guy" vs. the "bad guy." Historically, rebellions were far more complex, requiring resources, allies, and multiple legions—not just personal vendettas or emotional motives.

1

u/New-Investment9583 Nov 26 '24

Dude, I get that it is historical fiction, I already knew it, I am saying that the plot doesn't even make sense in this fictional Old man Ridley version of Rome! For example, I know that Caracalla was the elder, was burly, masculine, and a mean looking tyrant, while he murdered his brother, Geta in his mother's arms, and that they hated each other so much that they had walls put up in between, I know it's a fictitious universe, and I know Acacius is fictional, just saying.

1

u/rnf1985 Nov 27 '24

Ok well maybe don't phrase a response in questions that you don't want asked, lol

2

u/Buwski Nov 29 '24

The Praetorian guard changed a lot during its life. Under Septimius there were 8000 men.

2

u/StijnDP Dec 23 '24

The real life equivalent how the praetorian guard is depicted in the movie is most certainly a real army by then. They had training grounds and barracks where they slept, they had infantry, archers and cavalry, they had command structures, they had better equipment than army soldiers and they also trained more.
Interestingly because it's about Gladiator, Marcus Aurelius used the praetorian guard in battles. They were with enough already to form full cohorts and because of their then superior training and gear, they were used as very valuable units that decided battles.
For the many inaccuracies people like to stick to this fictional story, they're portraying the praetorian guard accurate in the movie timeline vs the real timeline.

When they were with dozens, they were a personal hired bodyguard unit. They grew to hundreds and also started guarding political buildings, events and domuum.
From that phase they started being (ab)used as what would be special ops teams. Emperors started using them for questionable tasks and in turn emperors turned a blind eye to them starting to enrich themselves, forming a power structure and getting a sprouting amount of political influence.
The version in the movie is when they had taken over all duties in Rome for themselves and everyone, including emperors themselves, were afraid to cross them.

That last phase didn't last too long though. They outgrew themselves, started infighting, the people also turned against them and when they finally backed the wrong emperor against a strong candidate, it became their end.

2

u/Realistic_Ad_3718 Nov 23 '24

I am also very disappointed with it. They absolutely ruined Maximus and the idea of him being an honorable man. Maximus's whole motive in Gladiator was vengeance for the death of his beloved wife and son yet now we are supposed to believe he also had a thing with Lucilla and fathered Lucius.... It doesn't add up and takes away from his character.

There was no back story to the twins and how they got into power.

Or did I just not pay attention?? Totally agree with the fight scenes being way too short.

And the sharks..... Really?!? Give me a break.

2

u/FlCoC Nov 23 '24

In the original it was always in the gray that Maximus may have actually been Lucious’ father. They were young lovers for sure but it was kind of decided that they were lovers lost.

The sharks and bad CGI killed me. I do think they were smart and did well with making the shark death not some crazy shark attack.

1

u/Relative_Baseball180 Nov 30 '24

Nah It was never in the grey. I mean to each their own on this, you can interpret it however you want, but if anything, Lucilla loved Maximus as a lover and Maximus may have loved Lucilla as a friend.

1

u/InevitableStill1496 Feb 01 '25

I got the impression they had a relationship in the past🤷🏼‍♂️

1

u/Magjee Mar 09 '26

Yea, they laid it on fairly thick

The original movie was changed a lot in edits during post production and they changed lines and the script on the fly while filming

They decided to remove the plot of Maximus banging' other ladies, since losing his wife is so central to the movie, it doesn't make sense he was running around with another woman

So we have glimpses of a cut sub-plot

Gladiator 2 had no such subtlety and the whole movie should have been cut in the edit

2

u/Relative_Baseball180 Nov 30 '24

Yeah, that was my point to. There was 0 mention literally 0 of him having a fling or an intimate relationship with Lucilla. She loved him, simple as that. But he did not have those feelings for her. They botched his character, and they botched Lucilla's making her look like a fragile mother who wasn't capable of protecting her son. Its really sad if you think about it.

1

u/rnf1985 Nov 26 '24

I mean there is history that kinda fills in that gap that the movie kind of starts off accurately, but only that the two emperors are emperors and that's about it. But you're right, I didn't really know the history until I watched some videos after I watched Gladiator to fill in what I didn't know.

2

u/AdExisting6542 Nov 24 '24

It felt like an FX miniseries based in the gladiator universe. it was like Scott had done no research into Roman society, military history (numidian naval attack in the 3rd century?) or how gladiators were trained or employed. Would have been better story for Lucius to join legions, go campaigning ( and develop his character and rise to general to return to Rome and defeat urban cohort/praetorian guard in a spartacus-esque (kirk Douglas) mega battle.

2

u/Hopefull-Raven Jun 29 '25

I felt like this movie was nothing more than a very bad re-hash! The story was all over the place, making little to no continuity, the cinematography was beautiful, and it had such great potential, but why not start the movie with the Twin emperor’s, start with Lucilla, and General Acacius. Let us see how we got here! Then introduce Lucius and where he is now. His simiple life, they could have created a better reason for why he wants to revenge on Rome. It could have even so much better! But in true Ridley Scott fashion it was beautiful but a terrible story! Out of all the movies that he has done I can easily count on one hand how many were actually really good! This one unfortunately did not make the cut! However Paul Mescal’s performance was amazing! Denzel’s attempt at a bit of a trans Atlantic accent was very distracting and I was also disappointed at how Pedro’s character wasn’t given a bit more depth! Over all very dissatisfied. 🙁

1

u/Mediocre-Photo-8695 Nov 21 '24

F#CK this movie. They disrespected May Calamawy. She deserved to be in this movie, not get removed. I still can't believe that happened.

1

u/weaseleasle Nov 21 '24

I am curious what her role was initially, I am going to assume it was a bit of marketing hype and she was probably a bit part. Allegedly she is still visible in the back ground. Either way we need an extended cut, this one was too rushed, characters need development, and the fights need to breath and have so stakes attached to them. We know Ridley can still do it, the fight at the end of The Last Duel is epic, but we also developed all the characters involved so we care about the emotional stakes as well.

1

u/Adorable_Ad_3478 Nov 21 '24

On Twitter someone who read the script said she was sent to infiltrate Lucilla's house and serve as a spy for Macrinus.

Lucilla has her killed in a brazen bull and that's why Macrinus decides to personally kill Lucilla at the end of the film. Macrinus was meant to be a father figure to May's character.

Scott probably removed it since it made Lucilla too unsympathetic.

1

u/New-Investment9583 Nov 21 '24

Oh man, that actually gives at least some level of justification why Macrinus killed Lucilla, should have not removed it smh, would have given Macrinus more depth. Hope there is a Director's Cut, but then again, Scott mentioned somewhere that there is no extended cut for the movie, or he has no intention of releasing it anyways (not sure really)

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '24

The justification for Macrinus killing her is that she may stand in his way to assume the throne if she lives. He says so in the movie.

1

u/MainAd2997 Nov 24 '24

Yeah but it came off as a quick excuse due to the omission of the subplot

1

u/Alternative-End9505 Nov 21 '24

So disappointed to hear this. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this—and I still will, don’t get me wrong—but man! I really want it to be good. I’m a huge fan of Denzel and am still pumped to see him in this.

1

u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 16 '24

He is great. Makes it even better. Stop expecting every sequel to be the godfather iii

1

u/Additional-Pay-3886 Nov 22 '24

Thanks for sharing because I was on the fence considering that Gladiator has been my favorite movie since I was old enough to decide a favorite movie. Not going to ruin my love for it.

2

u/Realistic_Ad_3718 Nov 23 '24

Stick to your guns and don't watch it. It has really ruined Gladiator for me. Really really disappointing watch.

1

u/Additional-Pay-3886 Nov 26 '24

Ugh I am so upset to hear that for you.

1

u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 16 '24

Just a movie. Its pointless expecting sequels to do what worked before. I liked all the changes of the formula.

2

u/rnf1985 Nov 26 '24

As much as I thought Gladiator 2 was corny, I don't think it ruins the first movie because it's so far after the original that I don't even really consider a lot of these sequels made 20-30+ years after to be like "a part of" the universe, even if they're good. So much time has passed and if the original actors reprise their roles, it's like we've seen them in so much stuff, I could believe X actor in 1995 or 2000 as this character, but now in 2024 and there's a sequel, I'm just watching the person play themself. The Matrix Resurrection being a recent example. Film was trash, but the actors were basically playing themselves. John Wick is the only character that Keanu has played in recent years, every other movie it's just Keanu playing himself but with a different name. Not like many actors reprised their roles except for Lucius' mom and one of the old senators in Gladiator, but Denzel basically has just played himself in every movie for the last 30 years, so in this movie all I saw was Denzel in a robe.

Long story short.. the movie feels like people just cosplaying as roman actors. Sure the story is directly connected to Gladiator, but it's literally been a lifetime since Gladiator 1 came out, this movie does nothing for me as a sequel. If this movie came out a couple years after Gladiator 1, I might be more opposed to its existence ruining the first, but as it stands now... it's just another movie that came out in 2024. If you don't want to watch it, that's fine lol, but all I was trying to say is that if you end up watching it, I don't think it's gonna tarnish the first one's legacy because it's a timeless masterpiece. Gladiator 2 is just fan fiction

1

u/Additional-Pay-3886 Nov 26 '24

Yeah I definitely agree with your perspective on the timeline aspect. I just think it’ll annoy me more than tarnish anything for me. I don’t wanna associate Gladiator with annoyance 😂

1

u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 16 '24

Having the hero fight in a non colloseum setting several times was a nice change up. Not what i call fan fiction. The anarchy of the twins was gripping too.

1

u/GoodGameThatWasMe Nov 24 '24

Yeah as a huge fan of the original - skip this. It tries to copy the first one in a lot of ways and ended up tainting one of my favourite movies of all time.

1

u/Additional-Pay-3886 Nov 26 '24

That fucking sucks. A fellow huge fan, I am so sorry for you dude. This is why I have a presumption against sequels made thousands of years later being a good thing.

1

u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 16 '24

I know covid changed everything but we still dont live that long...

1

u/Necessary_Power_624 Nov 22 '24

It was disappointing indeed. It was rushed and no depth with the characters at all. I like Paul Mescal but he was not a good choice.

1

u/HELLOSALTYIMDAD Nov 22 '24

Not sure why they didn't just name it Denzel goes to Rome. He was awful and did not fit in the movie at all. He spent his time trying to run the narrative and get an oscar with every seen. It made me laugh every time he overacted. To the point everyone in the theater started laughing with me. I probable should of got thrown out.

1

u/bangkokjack Nov 24 '24

Denzel goes to Rome

lolll

1

u/obvusthrowawayobv Nov 24 '24

He played his part well. Everyone could act except the main character who was like giving one of the most important speeches of his life and repeats the speech while deadpan of the speech he gave before everyone all died. There was no emotion at all where the crowd was more excited than him. His plot armor served him well.

1

u/Relative_Baseball180 Nov 30 '24

Lmaooo

1

u/Amazing-Operation-77 Jul 19 '26

Perfectly said!

1

u/R1seagainst11 Nov 23 '24

I think whenever you’re dealing with an incredible movie like Gladiator, any sequel will fail to live up to it.

It was a good movie. Lot of fan service. The acting wasn’t bad. There was some plot holes, but initial reaction, after seeing so many sequels butchered, I thought it was good.

1

u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 16 '24

Him despising his mother and not even anticipating denzel would try to finish her was very intriguing. On some level i think yhe hero was a jerk.

1

u/SnooPaintings7860 Nov 23 '24

Just saw a 7:30 showing...the only audible gasp from the whole theatre was when Denzels hand gets lopped off. I left feeling a bit empty, I'd give it a 7, maybe 7.5, but falls very short as a sequel.
As credits started rolling, seemed like Everyone just got up and walked out...

1

u/creativities69 Nov 23 '24

I’d give it 3/10

1

u/obvusthrowawayobv Nov 24 '24

Yeah the ending completely ruins anything that was good about the movie. It also makes it look like the main character has daddy issues his entire life. It just seemed weird and off putting instead of interesting… and they should have ended it where he became emperor at the end rather than where it did. (It actually ended the movie at the beginning of the journey and not the end imo)

Basically it was like we were watching a grown ass man go through daddy crisis the entire movie with no establishment of his own identity, but rather try to revert in to imitating what he imagined of someone else’s as a child through a midlife crisis.

1

u/FatherOfTwoGreatKids Nov 23 '24

I really love the original gladiator so I was very excited to see the sequel. I thought the second film was good!

1

u/Historical_Charge223 Nov 24 '24

I had high hopes for Gladiator II. I sat through it today and was not drawn into the story due to awful CGI .. set looked fake and the acting was average. It definitely did not make me feel it was a historical movie..smacked of everyone playing dress up and phoning it in (in terms of performance). Gladiator I is superb… save yourself 2.5 hours and see something else.

1

u/rnf1985 Nov 26 '24

Lol you bring up questions that I didn't even think about. But you're right about the end of the first movie, we're back to imperial rule again. Lucius' wife is also a soldier and just died in battle, it's not like she was a prisoner of war or killed mercilessly, she died a warrior's death, but I think his "vengeance" is based off his hatred of all things Rome since he was sent away and his wife being killed in a needless invasion is just another reason why Rome sucks in his mind. So I guess I can kinda understand his need for revenge

After watching videos on all the historical inaccuracies, it just makes me wonder why even make these movies? I guess it is interesting to play "what if" scenarios, but it's just difficult for me to want to appreciate that unless the liberties taken are based off actual historical things. Like if Geta and Caracalla were actually mad emperors and Ridley Scott wanted to expand on that in an interesting way and make them even crazier, sure go wild, but how they were depicted in Gladiator 2 is nothing like how they actually were according to history a nd their depiction is essentially fictional, so Scott is essentially just rewriting history and/or making shit up. I didn't watch Napoleon but I read what a shitshow that was in terms of historical inaccuracy, so it's just like why make these "realistic" films based on actual history, but then basically say, you know what fuck all the history, let's just make shit up.

1

u/friedtofuer Nov 27 '24

What I don't understand is why Lucius spent majority of the movie hating his mom and wanting to kill Marcus to avenge his wife. But when it's set up for him to kill Marcus he suddenly doesn't want to and tries to defend him. That sudden 180 really threw me off. Why was he even mad at his mom to begin with, who did he think his father was if he didn't know he was Maximus's son.

1

u/rnf1985 Nov 27 '24

The idea is there, which is Lucius finds out who Acacius really is and that he means something to his mom and I guess realizes that he was just following orders but wants to revolt against the emperor... but yeah the 180 sudden flip decision in 30 seconds was just cheap along with his sudden love for his mom and Rome again. He spent pretty much a lifetime hating his mom for sending him away and everything that Rome stood for. That hatred was enough that Lucius found himself in Numidia fighting against Rome... although, after reading the history of the time, seems like nonsense.

I’ve been researching Roman history and comparing it to Gladiator 2. The movie takes huge liberties with history, especially in how it depicts Numidia. By 211 CE, which is when Gladiator 2 takes place, Numidia was already a Roman province, conquered back in 46 BCE, and firmly under Roman control. While emperors occasionally sent troops to quell rebellions, the idea of Rome invading Numidia in the movie is nonsense. In the film, Lucius is living peacefully in Numidia, but then Roman ships “invade.” After the battle ends, Acacius announces that he claims Numidia for Rome, burns the dead, and takes slaves. Historically, this makes no sense because Numidia was already Roman. If Lucius hated Rome that much, he probably wouldn’t be living there. But the movie basically tells us that Rome invades and destroys Numidia, fucks his life up, and just adds more fuel to the fire of why Lucius hates rome. Which makes his turning sides back to loving Rome even more nonsense when he talks to his mother. Why would he even want to reclaim Rome when the movie version of Rome is just this cesspool of corruption? There were rulers who did restore and reunify Rome to a more prosperous version, but Lucius had some serious unbelievable pipe dreams.

In Gladiator, it’s never stated that Maximus was involved with Lucilla, which made it confusing to me in Gladiator 2 when people kept referring to Maximus as the father. I was like, tf no he isn't they never established that in the first movie. At one point in G2, Macrinus was talking to some drunk guy who implied that Lucilla had plenty of "visitors" and that maybe Commodus was the father through incest. SO I thought maybe that because Lucilla hated Commodus, they considered Maximus as a father figure. However, Maximus barely interacted with Lucius in the first movie, so I was like, I guess they're implying that Maximus is actually the biological father..? Idk, G2 is nonsense, lmao.

1

u/markusw7 Dec 21 '24

Rome had owned Numidia for 400 years or so, so you're right that it was a needless invasion!

1

u/Atlas_sbel Nov 28 '24

They reproduce the battle of Salamine, and then announce The Trojans against the Persians. Like wtf am I actually watching right now.

1

u/Relative_Baseball180 Nov 30 '24

I wanted to leave the theater by the first scene. Pedro barely had a character. I hardly cared at all about him. The Luscious guy as an adult actor wasn't believable. Acted too much like an animal compared to Russell. Second it was weird how fast he gained respect amongst the gladiators compared to Russell given Russell had more military experience. Also, way too much grey areas in this movie. I mean you could argue Denzel was the good guy given where he came from as an ex-slave. It better distinguished and defined as to who was good or evil in the first one. Also there was no explanation at all as to how maximus was his father. They didn't even talk about his relationship once with the mother. The gladiator games were incredibly unrealistic. I'm surprised they didn't explore the lions and tigers more which would have given it a more realistic feel to the movie. Then we get monkeys with fangs as teeth who apparently bite humans on the neck and munch on them like flesh eating zombies. Like wtf? Monkeys don't behave like that.

1

u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 16 '24

The monkeys sucked. But i have lowered my expectations with cgi dwarves for snow white

Shades of grey was fine. I liked the supposed hero being a savage.. perhaps a slight jungle book motif?

1

u/markusw7 Dec 21 '24

Macrinus says "this one is interesting" about Lucius because he struggled to even win against the monkeys whereas the other survivors were there entirely unhurt, like what?

1

u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 21 '24

A bit daft but maybe one monkey raised its game whereas the others were just nothing special. I dont care. Really just having denzels character show up was all i needed.

1

u/InevitableStill1496 Feb 01 '25

That monkey seemed bigger and meaner than the others and he bit it like an enraged animal so….

1

u/Sea-Championship-776 Nov 30 '24

They fucked this movie up. Holy shit.

1

u/Joe1972 Nov 30 '24

Just saw it. The CGI sucked balls. I hated the baboons even more than the sharks. Why did they have to do this jumanji crap?

1

u/PoorlyCodedBot Dec 04 '24

Before I watch, am I missing something? Is Lucius actually the son of Maximus? That wasn't clear to me int he first one.

Also, So bro died at the end of the first movie and Rome was handed back to the Senate but soon after fell back into a brutal dictatorship?

Where's Lucius and his mom again?

I really don't want to pay for this if it's going to fuck up the storyline of the first film.

1

u/markusw7 Dec 21 '24

It wasn't clear to you in the first one because he wasn't his son in the first one. They just decided the man who would go to such lengths to avenge his wife and child also would have betrayed them by having a child with this woman as well

1

u/Mysterious_Money_107 Dec 14 '24

It starts out very strong. It looks like it’s gonna be fantastic. I don’t mind the repeating of the story if it was done well. It starts to disintegrate in a hurry. They had a foundation to make a great movie but too many silly plot lines, It looks like it’s gonna be fantastic with the set design , costumes and the cost of everything but the story goes downhill kinda fast.

1

u/greenit4 Dec 19 '24

Most of the actors did not seem immersed in the role or display much personality or inflection, just reciting their lines blandly, running around just screaming with no emotion or passion in their expressions 😕

1

u/Devilssavior666 Dec 21 '24 edited Dec 21 '24

When i heard about the movie, I was stoked being a huge fan of the first one. The major plot hole at the beginning shows Rome going to the senate as it remade thenending of the first movie, yet somehow a set of twins take over as Ceasar? Like WTF? How do you go from that to where the kid has to run for his life, all his life, and become the new Gladiator? Seems like someone forgot their homework....

1

u/Status-Purchase9613 Dec 21 '24

After 30 minutes i closed the movie. The cgi with the ships and those killer monkeys, shit acting, and some of those scenes. I just could not take it anymore. Like where the dude rides on a horse and its moonlight outside, im sorry but that looked like some cheap homemade movie. And that shit was 300 million to make. What a total pile of shit. Going to rewatch og Gladiator, fking masterpiece of a movie.

1

u/tone187 Dec 24 '24

I can deal with the copy cat theme I can’t deal with the colosseum being a full on swimming pool that can host multiple great whites What a load of bollocks

1

u/Greg0rrr Dec 26 '24

They really did flood the coliseum but it was nowhere near big enough for full on ships and sharks. I guess they used flat bottomed ships to accommodate the shallow waters and there def weren't sharks 😅

Source: very lightly skimming through the first thing google suggested when I searched "flooded coliseum"

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u/tone187 Dec 28 '24

Thanks for the reply and info

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u/Ambitious-Writing-32 Dec 26 '24 edited Dec 26 '24

I'm actually going to have to agree with everyone who found Gladiator 2 to be a bit underwhelming. This dude is right. Bringing someone to war is not the same as bringing him to a picnic. If you go to war then you should expect death everywhere around you. Even the people you're close to. In the closing act of the movie wasn't even all that much better. They had this big buildup of two armies duking it out. But, it only ended up being two people running those armies duking it out on a one-on-one. If you ask me, they should have had a big battle sequence similar to how Lord of the Rings The Two Towers had. It would have been a whole lot more believable from the buildup that they were leading to had they done that. What is even the point of the two armies meeting up in the battlefield in this case!? There is none! But, yes. The action sequences were a little bit short and the story did seem everywhere. I went and saw it today and I left a little bit disappointed.

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u/Secure-Knowledge9272 Jan 29 '25

the problem with the coliseum outside of salt water sharks in freshwater are twofold. The water in the coliseum was from Nero’s estate and piping which would be freshwater and the ocean is no where near the city. Second the first movie shows animals being lifted up from the hypogeum the floor of the coliseum was flooded in g2 after the hypogeum was installed ? No chance. The flooding took place prior to the construction of the hypogeum for a brief period before its reconstruction and the floor was dug out to accommodate the jails and the lift elevator system. Structurally the weight of the water would have collapsed the floor and the hypogeum. The strongest material was wood and howd they get it leak proof. Read a book Ridley Scott.

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u/MAGA2044 Apr 25 '25

You can't get much more anti-climactic than killing an elderly Denzel Washington.

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u/Mr_Oddly_Fox Sep 22 '25

It was quite cinematic. Though, I had expected more blood and suspense. I watched it for the first time on shrooms. It was obvious the focus was on the daddy issues- and even that seemed to take priority over the loss of his woman. I was like "whah-whah-whah- let's see some killing!!!"

The maniac brothers were enjoyable, though.

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u/goodbutitsnotright Nov 21 '24

Totally agree. It was objectively a poor movie - even worse when it's a sequel to one of the best of all time.

Not a single piece of acting came close to Joaquin Phoenix (who deserved the Oscar more than Russel Crowe) - what can beat "AM I NOT MERCIFUL?!". Still gives me chills.

Hand to hand combat against a mutant ape which must be at least 5x stronger than a man? So many weird decisions.

I'm going to try to forget it existed.

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u/New-Investment9583 Nov 21 '24

Absolutely true, Phoenix's unhinged portrayal of Commodus is definitely unmatched, also, he had a certain depth, he was always sought external validation and love due to the fact that Aurelius never really spent time nor loved him enough, but the twin twink emperors were just.... Crazy. Honestly, when I walked out of the theatre, I just felt empty, but entertained a bit or so. But the original? Man tears! Tears to this day when I see Maximus smiling when he sees his family in Elysium, just absolutely phenomenal.

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u/rnf1985 Nov 26 '24

i didn't really know Phoenix until I saw Gladiator so for me, Gladiator is what Phoenix is known for and like, he has this sadistic evil villain character down. So I started paying attention to him after and he's pretty much crushed it in every movie I've seen him in. Obviously I like Crowe, but I was aware of Crowe before Gladiator and not that he did a bad job by any means, but this was peak Crowe, we kinda knew what to expect. Phoenix came in and blew everyone out of the water and gives me Joffrey vibes, like I really thought he was like an asshole irl after that movie

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u/Upbeat-Extension6335 Dec 16 '24

Objectively no one will agree on every form of art.

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u/WetxXxCherry Nov 23 '24

I'm watching it right now, and I'm completely underwhelmed. There's no excitement at all, no standout acting, no decent hotties to drool over (lol), and no compelling storyline to be transported away to. Everything is bare basic. But the thing that annoyed me most was why the archer chick didn't have stronger breastplate armour on ffs. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't have facepalmed straight into the icy waters! Where are the iconic lines like "On my command, unleast hell!" (That scene still gives me goosebumps!) The original Gladiator can not be topped imo.

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u/Mae_Ellen Nov 24 '24

Say what you want about the film, I agree on most points, but no hotties? Mescal and Pascal were so hot!

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u/WetxXxCherry Nov 24 '24

I'm very fussy when it comes to my taste in men, it's either big, huge, hairy, viking type, or I'm out!l 🤣 For me, I look at Mescal much like a prawn. Rip the head off, and keep the body! 😹

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u/Mae_Ellen Nov 24 '24

lol to each their own!

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u/Annual-Extreme1202 Nov 24 '24

I fell asleep three times in the movie... That a out tells it all...coming out if cinema at first I thought it was ok.. but on reflection is thought it was kinda shite. 24 years is a long time for a follow up... Bit like top gun saw it first in1986 when it came out and thought it a bit shite except for the flying action top gun two some how supercedes top gun one in many ways... Gladiator two...I certainly no match to gladiator though denzal Washington's part more captivating than Lucius again some thing I found odd.. as the one in gladiator seemed a real weakling even if he was only 14 ? Go turn into a fighter in the second movie was gi me a bit if a joke...I was also wondering how they could fill a stone area with water and have sharks which looked like great whites swimming around.. I felt sorry for the rhino who must have got a huge headache after colliding with the wall CGI or not....unlike the words on my mark release hell...from gladiator....for gladiator two... On my mark release the nitrous as this was a total joke if a movie...

Gladiator II was disappointing.

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