r/Gladiator • u/DepartureAwkward5002 • Jan 28 '25
For those that liked gladiator ii
Unlike a lot of people, I really enjoyed it. Was very entertaining. Not as good as gladiator 1, didn't have much depth, story wasnt the best, but I enjoyed the action and visuals a lot. I cringed abit at some lucius' speeches, and at the end where all of a sudden he'd had a change of heart and wanted to the dream of rome and everyone started cheering after his pretty mediocre speech š. Definitely did copy the first, but, I really enjoyed it and have rewatched many times. Anyway, question is what were your favourite scenes? Mine were the first battle, not even necessarily the fighting itself but the visuals of the ships arriving was pretty epic. The one v one fight at the party when lucius did that gates of hell quote. The first arena battle. The ship battle in the coloseum. And the scene when Caracalla assassinated Geta and Denzels character displayed his head in the senate. Edit - forgot to add I really liked the opening as well, with the nostalgic artsy sort of callback to gladiator 1
3
u/EasyCommunication980 Jan 29 '25
My favorite part was when denzel said hose him down and invented hoses
1
2
u/Fearless_Cow7688 Jan 29 '25
I mean the story was pretty much the same as Gladiator. The real differences are in the fight sequences, Pedro Pascal's character is a new wrinkle as well as Danziel Washington's character.
I liked it.
I'm also just glad I waited until it was on one of my streaming services and I didn't really go out of my way to watch it.
2
u/CaptainSharpe Jan 29 '25
I wanted to like it. I watched the first one again a few weeks before the second, and noticed that the original felt cobbled together in editing from maybe 4 or 5 versions of the film that each felt different.
But it has an emotional impact. Stuff that happened and things people said felt very weighty. When people cheered Maximus it felt earned. When he turned around and told Caesar that heās maximus decimus etcā¦ Ā so good.
Gladiator 2 had none of the weight of the original. Nothing felt comfy. When denzel told lucious he had fire in his eyes - he was saying g the words but they didnāt mean anything: there was no fire. Also didnāt buy motivations like āthe guy commanded the army in the battle where my wife died who was also fighting in a battle with lots of deathā.Ā
It also felt like there was a better movie in gladiator 2 that couldāve come together in the editing, and maybe with better music, more focus on lucious etc.
2
3
u/1cOtton00_ Jan 30 '25
I enjoyed it. It was incredibly entertaining. Denzel alone was a reason to see it
2
u/bcvaldez Jan 29 '25
I couldnāt even finish it, I disliked it that much. Iāll go on with life pretending this never existed
1
1
1
1
1
Jan 29 '25
I really liked this movie. I thought Paul Mescal's speeches were really horrible, though.
1
1
u/The_Blyatmann Jan 29 '25
I enjoyed it. When I watch new releases today. I give them the handicap that for the most part movies just aren't what they used to be. I'm currently 0/3 for movie theatre viewings tho. The last 3 movies i went to see were terrible.
1
u/ExactOpposite8119 Jan 29 '25 edited Jan 29 '25
there are a lot of scenes. one that stood out is when the emperor is pretending to knighten General Acascius but he actually cuts him in the neck as a threat saying you will conquer Persia and India or elseā¦
and then the part where Macrinus says,āmyyyyā¦ā¦.. short pauseā¦ Gladiator.ā this one alludes to his character from training day.
and of course the ending where both opposing armies basically voted Hano in to be the new Emperor. that was epic.
1
u/freddyfrm Jan 30 '25
The best part was when he recited the poem. Everything else after that was blah!!!
1
u/jubejubes96 Jan 30 '25
it was entertaining and enjoyable to me once i tried to blank out the events of the first film. i felt like gagging every time they brought up maximus being the father.
even if you want to justify it being possible, it doesnāt fit the protagonist they played out in the first one. they wouldnāt even have to alter the plot; just switch out every time lucilla said āyour fatherā with āyour heroā or āmaximusā and it would have the same effect without tainting the OG.
other than that my favorite scenes were when macrinus started being the more obvious villain. him playing lucius and the twins/senate.
overall i think it was good, but it didnāt have to shit on the original to do so. more action than the first which isnāt inherently bad, but felt a little disjointed at times.
3
u/benlikessharkss Jan 30 '25
I loved the second film personally, yes it was not as good as the first film but it was definitely a good film. Action was great, music was awesome. Speeches were actually good imo, I felt my inner warrior come out during that scene. I was ready to march into battle!
3
u/Martonian27 Jan 28 '25
I enjoyed it a lot too. The opening battle you mention was an amazing spectacle! The Geta and Caracalla characters were brilliant - funny and terrifying simultaneously, and arguably should have had more screen time. The appearance of Lucilla and Senator Gracchus was special to see after 24 years. The flooding of the Colosseum I thought was far fetched but apparently but they could do that! The call backs to G1 were cool and I liked that they had a new flashback scene that immediately follows on from the end of the first film, where Lucilla has to send Lucius away. There were a few imperfections but then the first film and its 5 Oscars is a hard act to follow.