Gladiator II Trailer Dazzles But Seems Like a Retread

Movies

Another legacy sequel is here to remind you of better times at the cinema. Today saw the release of a new Gladiator II trailer, the next film from Ridley Scott and a follow-up to his Best Picture winner from 2000. This time, Lucius, Lucilla’s son from the first film, is the lead, and he has… pretty much the exact same story as Maximus: his family is killed, he’s taken as a slave, he becomes a gladiator, and he seeks revenge against the corrupt officials who took everything from him. But it’s totally a brand-new movie. Paul Mescal stars as the grown-up Lucius, with Connie Nielsen returning from Gladiator as Lucilla. New cast members include Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger as Geta and Caracalla, the co-emperors of Rome; Pedro Pascal (who is contractually obligated to be in all of the things ever) as Marcus Acasius, a Roman general and Lucius’ sworn enemy; and Denzel Washington as Macrinus, a former slave who has become a wealthy power broker and owner of gladiators. Directed by Ridley Scott from a script by David Scarpa, Gladiator II will arrive in theaters on November 22, 2024. You can see the Gladiator II trailer below:

This movie has me torn. On the one hand, it looks like it’s essentially a Gladiator remake, with the main character simply replaying Maximus’ journey on a grander scale (because bigger is always better) and with more moving parts. Once more, a former soldier’s family is killed and he is taken as a slave before becoming a gladiator, which turns out to be the vessel for his revenge via a sympathetic owner. There’s the effeminate emperor who needs a good killing (actually, two of them this time, and they’re even broader in their flamboyant personalities), gladiatorial fights with wild animals, repeated lines from the original, and the new gladiator hero even uses swords like scissors to decapitate an opponent. I’m so sick of this, and it makes these sequels seem like cheap (artistically; this movie looks expensive as hell – which it is) cash grabs that want to remind the audience of their favorite movies and be rewarded for it. That’s part of why I loved Beetlejuice Beetlejuice so much: there was finally a far-removed sequel that told its own story, took us to new places, had wonderful new ideas and dazzling, original set pieces, and didn’t, to my recollection, repeat any of the famous lines from the original classic, outside of the obvious three mentions of the b-word to summon the titular trickster. In contrast, the Gladiator II trailer assures us we’ll hear, “I will have my vengeance… in this life or the next,” just in case we didn’t realize that Gladiator II was a sequel to Gladiator. And I’m sure it won’t end there.

However, the Gladiator II trailer does make the new movie look like a hell of an entertainment. Those battle scenes look great, and they are at least different from the early ones in Gladiator, taking place at sea while the Romans are laying siege to, I believe, North Africa rather than a fight in the woods with Germanic tribes. The gladiatorial fights also look cool, and while I hate the repeated head-scissoring, the rampaging rhinos and screeching monkeys are neat. I also like some of the casting very much. I’ve never seen Paul Mescal in anything, but he’s certainly got the physicality for a role like this. I know Pedro Pascal is in everything now, but he actually seems well-suited for this part – more so than, for example, Reed Richards – and based on the trailer, I believe him as a celebrated Roman general. Denzel, of course, speaks for himself, and this new trailer gives the impression that he could be the ultimate villain of the movie, or at least one of several villainous factions. The first made him look more like the fatherly mentor to Lucius, but here, he says he wants to conquer Rome and that his ambition is power. So, who knows? I’ll see it for sure; it’s at least got the potential to be a cool sword and sandal epic, and Denzel looks like he’s going to be a lot of fun in his role. But I’m wary of legacy sequels, and this one seems particularly unnecessary, especially because Gladiator is so outstanding.

Let us know what you think of the Gladiator II trailer in the comments!

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