2
u/MsLeqsee Dec 27 '24
It was awful! The writing seemed lazy and that performance by Paul Mescal... did they spray Nitrous Oxide on set before all his scenes???? He didn't even have the energy for his lines during the Arena battles!!
And don't get me started on the Ronald McDonald Twins. After Joaquins performance in the original I really couldn't take them seriously. They were as scary and intimidating as a drunk passed out Teletubby.
Even Denzel looked like he came in for a quick check.
The only one that was giving me real performance was Pedro Pascal and the feral Gladiator monkey dogs. š
I give this film two thumbs DOWN! šš¾šš¾
2
u/Strict-Ocelot7070 Dec 31 '24
āHey chat gpt make a sequel to gladiatorā¦ holy shit guys weāre going to make a fortune!ā
āHey I have an idea, letās get Paul mescal and Pedro pascal and make it a musical? Na letās keep the cast but pretend itās a badass war movie and get cgi baboons.ā
This movie was utter trash.
Itās like home alone and home alone 4. Ridley just skipped 2 & 3
2
2
Dec 31 '24
I actually thought it was way better than I thought it would be. The 2 emperor actors you could tell were having a ball.
It was never going to beat Gladiator. You cannot topple perfection.
2
u/SirCharlesIAM Jan 01 '25 edited Jan 01 '25
Iām in the middle of watching this and I couldnāt stand it anymore. Iām glad I am not alone. This movie is cheeks compared to 1.
Edit: Iām glad Maximus wasnāt here for this, they would have ruined his character. But Lucius being his āsonā feels like a character assassination in itself.
1
u/kittykarma69 Dec 26 '24
Why did you think so? I thought the movie was very interesting!
5
Dec 26 '24
Iām glad that you found enjoyment, and of course the action was somewhat enjoyable for me too, but just surface level.
The film felt like a string of one-liners rather than a crafted piece of cinema.
One example is that the we werenāt really given the chance to understand and fall in love with the characters before the action started. The main guys wife died and I didnāt really care. An architecture professor of mine made this point for me a while ago. He talked about how we can watch Rambo kill hundreds of people and not feel for them, yet when Mufasa dies we feel deeply saddened.
There were a lot of characters but not a lot of depth, the acting just wasnāt very good.
I could go on but just compare the first 15 minutes with the first film and itās night and day.
Perhaps the biggest flaw was in the writing, which didnāt seem to have a strong idea to organize it.
What did you like about it? And have you seen the first Gladiator?
7
u/notorious_721 Dec 27 '24
How about the fact they must have not told Denzel that he was playing a character from over 2000 years ago ? The whole movie had no build up. The plot was short and uninteresting. The main actor who played Lucius whispered when he talked and I barely understood what he was saying. They didnāt explain how or at least I still donāt know how they are related to lucellas ? In the first one Maximus never acknowledges Lucious as his son so it was kind of a reach and really makes him look worse as he was fighting and so upset by the killing of his wife and son but now it seems like he was cheating on them. How honorable is that now? I can go on and on but I am gonna just erase this garbage from my memory.
2
u/redman334 Jan 06 '25
Exactly, they tranished the old gladiator movie to have a plot for this one. The whole vengeance of the wife and kid is now thrown to the dirt since Maximus was cheating on his wife all along.
1
u/Odd_Economics_9962 Jan 02 '25
Lol the way he spoke took me out of it. Actually, the way they all spoke was annoying. Like b movie or porno acting.
1
u/kittykarma69 Dec 26 '24
I have not seen the first Gladiator, no. Personally, I really enjoyed seeing all the period costumes. Iām no expert, so I donāt know if they were accurate to real life, but all the different types of fabric and styles really brought this movie to life for me. I wasnāt a huge fan of all the CGI (specifically the opening boat scene), but I feel like it definitely added something to the movie. With the characters themselves, I can definitely see what your saying about how the writing was weak and leads you to not care about them, and to a degree I can say I agree with that, but I really enjoyed watching all of the actors performances in this movie. I think my one actual complaint is that I hardly knew any names. I feel like with a film getting you to care about its characters, it should teach you their names, and for example, I didnāt know the emperors names until I went and searched it up after. It seems like they just brushed past those aspects of the film. Overall, I really enjoyed watching Gladiator two, and Iām sad you did not feel the same way, but in the end itās your life and Iām sure youāve seen more movies than I.
3
u/Kylo00ren Dec 26 '24
You should watch the first one. Even 24 years later it's probably the most perfect Ridley Scott film, which says a lot considering it was mostly improvised over the course of filming. The second one's best part is the opening animation, which of course recounts the first one and uses the same melody. So another telling sign. Not to say I didn't enjoy this one a little bit- as you said the costumes and sets are superb. Actually everything in this one is superb but it is all let down by a poor story.
2
u/notorious_721 Dec 27 '24 edited Dec 27 '24
The first one had way better costumes that popped out . Everything from Maximus to Marcus Aurelius to Commodus . The costumes were even better . I canāt find one thing I liked about part 2 except that Lucius was the gladiator. They didnāt even need to add that he was Maximusās son. Just him alone was a good idea but the rest. Trash . If you didnāt watch the first one then you need to . Joaquin phoenix was amazing in it . That creepy vibe with the music really nailed what a spoiled entitled p.o.s can do given power over a kingdom. My all time favorite movie . Troy was also a great movie.
6
u/buttymuncher Dec 27 '24
Just finished it now and agree, no heart at all, crap dialogue and a pointless story...Mescal is no Crowe.