Gladiator II Falls Short

[@captainmidnight]

What did you think of Gladiator 2? Get a GREAT deal on Nebula now: go.nebula.tv/captainmidnight

[@Autobotmatt428]

5/10 about average not great but not bad but not good.

[@untrustworthyshelfing9953]

It looks like in the last 6 months you've done 5 positive reviews. Sick of your complaining. Unsubbed.

[@Vivi_9]

@@untrustworthyshelfing9953 sick of your complaining. Reported.

[@moondog2681]

Gladiator 2 has flaws but is just a movie nothing more i liked the sequel watching it 🎉❤

[@bdleo300]

Horrendous movie, it's not a 'sequel', it's a cringe parody....

[@internetperson8224]

I don’t know how you became my movie guy, but you are my movie guy.

[@Marco-wp9kw]

It's simple, this guy knows his movies.

[@t-god2439]

Crazy how that works when you think about it. I got a couple movie guys and I don’t know how lol

[@jakecravens8833]

Definitely my movie guy.

[@ronaustin8381]

Yeah I don't remember when or how I got here but in retrospect I've been here for years lol

[@ninjanibba4259]

Just F Filmento huh?

[@LizardSpork]

It's basically the first movie with extra steps but without the heart and charm.

[@dominiks_geeky_life_2]

That's my take away too. The movie felt like a soulless copy of the first one.

[@SomeHarbourBastard]

AKA _Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Part Deuce_

[@marc-antoinemarcoux697]

​@@dominiks_geeky_life_2 but hey Ridley Scott said he's very proud of putting half baked movies every two years now.

[@Tahulrik]

So what you are saying is.. it's just slavery with extra steps ?

[@AndriyValdensius-wi8gw]

@LizardSpork I haven't seen this film. Nor will I. But from the short, YT clips and trailers I have seen, that's exactly my impression. A mediocre "tribute band" version of the much better original. The Russell Crowe movie resonated and had emotional depth, not forgetting that it was a final outing for a generation of great British and Irish actors, namely Richard Harris, David Hemmings and the great Oliver Reed in his final role and one of his best performances. After that, this cannot be anything but an anticlimax. It looks like Gladiator 1 with inferior characters and extra arena tricks : man eating sharks, mutant monkeys and a rhino used instead of a horse. What's Gladiator 3 going to have ? Chariot races using Ferraris ?

[@lazyhammerwieldingpenguin2247]

The accent thing is funny to me because everyone in historical films is always doing a British accent no matter where or when the film takes place.

[@gawkthimm6030]

yeah should they all do like italien accents?

[@ayoa1173]

​@@gawkthimm6030No, various characters come from all over the empire. In the original, Maximus was literally called "the Spaniard."

[@gawkthimm6030]

@@ayoa1173 yeah but they arn't speaking ancient latin, so any modern day accents are still meaningless

[@gawkthimm6030]

@@ayoa1173 spain at that time, has nothing to with spain of modern times, there was literally no sspanish language yet.. thus no modern accent for maximus

[@bloat1235]

@@gawkthimm6030 not really, it can be used to communicate things like class, social standing or background. We know they are speaking to each other in Latin/their native tongue, but when they all have english accents and a foreign character appears with a distinctly foreign English (non-British/American) accent it helps to reinforce the character is not Roman. Same when Emperors or senators have a posher accent, vs commoners using cockney etc. Its not perfect but its useful.

[@wstine79]

I guess not many people were entertained.

[@IcyDiamond]

Got em

[@spetcnaz83]

Hayooo

[@damesofpk]

Get out. ❤

[@Autobotmatt428]

not great but not bad. I would say average

[@greysapocalyptic]

😅😅😅

[@countdowntorevolution9986]

one aspect I haven't seen discussed yet is that for Lucius to be Maximus' son, the latter would have needed to cheat on his beloved wife, as he says in the first movie that the two boys were the same age. so Maximus' "ideal" marriage in the first film wasn't so ideal after all, and he can't have loved his wife that much.

[@jesterssketchbook]

it basically ruins crowe's character - yeh

[@K.C-2049]

oh wtf! I hadn't seen the movie and wasn't planning to but that's awful I hate that. I very much loved Gladiator when it came out, 13 year old me is furious with this lol

[@ejbell]

Yeah, I was distracted doing the math while watching. Like the first film has Lucilla say 'my son is 8 years old' and Maximus says 'I too have a son who's nearly 8'. Okay so maybe there's like a 6-10 month age difference is Lucius is 8 (but nearly 9 lol). So not totally impossible that Maximus left Rome after leaving Lucilla, met his wife, fell madly in love and had a kid quickly. But then the sequel says Lucius was about 12 when he disappeared. So maybe there were trying to increase the time difference. (My issue was also the new child actor looked younger than the original kid) 😂

[@azure_azure]

@@ejbell To be fair the 12 estimation comes from a drunk guy trying to recall the correct age not a certain fact. It's a tight timeframe but not impossible. I always thought that line in the first you mention really heavily implies that Lucius is indeed his son as well as him and Lucilla having a romantic past and his final words being about Lucius. Too many coincidences for it not to be what you're supposed to takeaway.

[@ruthlessagression5018]

This right here is why I have no love for unnecessary sequels to stand alone movies. There is always something that undoes the main character from the first.

[@ziggy8253]

Better movie idea: After Maximus kills Commodus, young Lucius ascends to the throne as emperor. However, a corrupt and ambitious Roman senator, portrayed by Denzel Washington, schemes to seize power for himself. The senator and his conspirators (including a ruthless general played by Pedro Pascal) assassinate Lucius’s mother, forcing the young emperor to flee for his life. Years later, Lucius returns to Rome disguised as a gladiator. Fighting his way through the arenas, he plans to exact revenge on Pedro Pascal and the now Emperor Denzel Washington and reclaim his rightful place on the throne.

[@christophertom5552]

That... Actually does sound like a much better plot to work with.

[@bennett4789]

this is just gladiator 2 but with an even less nuanced story lmao

[@svetlanaandrasova6086]

Id watch that

[@bdleo300]

Oh definitely better than this c*4p, except it's 100% pure fantasy.... Even better idea: Hollywood should not make' historical' movies, only fantasy super-hero bs.

[@vrolijk9865]

Good idea. It would also remove that unnecessary plotline of lucius being maximus's son

[@babypizza3903]

Pedro Pascal looked like he didn't want to be there the entire movie. I kept laughing every time he was on screen because he seemed so disinterested.

[@Drillpink]

The first 1 was beautifully done with so much emotion that can't be duplicated

[@EmoSew1]

I definitely feel that it didn't have breathing room despite it's 2+hr run time. I think we should've stayed with him and his wife for at least 5mins longer in the beginning for one.

[@Luthiart]

Of all the films that came out this year, Gladiator II was definitely one of them.

[@suslightyear9876]

They should have do a switch up, making Pascal as the MC and Lucius as the vallian working with Denzel to destroy Rome.Both have the same goal to kill the emperor but different motivations which end up with Pascal has no choice but to kill Lucilla’s son.

[@bdleo300]

They should have leave this movie alone. Too many prequels, sequels, remakes, reboots, recycling... nothing new, nothing original, nothing worthy.

[@Comicbroe405]

​@@bdleo300 There are literally many original films that came out this year. You just have to watch out for them. That's why A24 & Neon had a good year.

[@TheCatWitch63]

8:54 But that’s the thing. There practically wasn’t a script for the original movie and many, if not most, of the best scenes were improvised by the actors according to what they felt the characters should be and do. Russell Crowe MADE Maximus.

[@KassFireborn]

I wonder how many of us will pause right about there to go see if someone mentioned this in the comments.

[@redheron4321]

Except that's not true... there was a script, although it wasn't finished by the time they started filming the movie. The actors definitely had nothing to do with it it tho.

[@KassFireborn]

@redheron4321 "The actors had nothing to do with it" is a fascinatingly definitive statement to make for a movie with *so many* behind the scenes clips and interviews of actors talking about lines and elements they improvised. I think probably the two most famous are how Russell Crowe was describing his own childhood home when talking about Maximus's, and Richard Harris came up with the line about Commodus's failings being on Marcus Aurelius's faults as a father in between takes. ("Strength and Honor" as a slogan was also from Crowe based off a school motto, but I think that's just serviceable for what it needed to be, whereas the home description was really good; YMMV.) I think my personal favorite of the non-dialogue improvs is when Maximus kisses those two little figurine, and production (and the ever-evolving script) then pivoted to have a throughline about them for the rest of the movie. They were just set decoration with no real meaning before that scene was shot. It's honestly a really fascinating production to look into, in that it should by all rights not have pulled off, and that's just talking about the script issues, not stuff like a major actor dying before finishing his scenes. I didn't realize how much of a mess it was until people started putting up videos about it for this sequel, but there's a lot of good stuff out there now.

[@chocolatespuds]

Crowe really did make the character. There was a script, but it had been reworked and changed hands so many times the movie had to be rescued by a great director and cast.

[@TheCatWitch63]

@ That’s what I meant when I said that “there practically wasn’t a script”. I apologize if I made it sound like there was no script at all. English is not my first language. I’m sorry.

[@thetalentof]

Ridley deciding to shoot 'Gladiator 2' on a digital camera for the sake of convenience gives it that actors-doing-cosplay look that makes it look like a Netflix streaming release compared to the gorgeous cinematic visual quality of kodak and eastman 35mm used for the first one where it actually looks like a professional studio movie from the big 5. The other letdown is that you don't really end up caring about any of the characters so you're not that emotionally engaged in the story unfortunately. Crowe actually looks like a regal war veteran / Roman general rather than a guy you would see down at your local gym and his performance manages to provoke you emotionally. The first 2 minute entrance into the colosseum before Maximus instructs the gladiators to all stick together just for sheer thrill-factor, soundtrack, tension building, visual quality..etc is far better than the entirety of Gladiator 2 (5.5). Ridley is great when he has a good script to work with (The Last Duel / The Martian) but his directorial style can't elevate a lacklustre script in the same way that someone like Spielberg can.

[@jarg8]

Spielberg and Scott are two sides of the same coin. There's no love left in either of these filmmakers styles. Just go through the motions and collect the check. It's a bummer but their movies have screamed "tired" for so long now

[@jmalmsten]

That may have been true 10, 15, even 20 years ago. But today? Or last year, when I guess G2 was shot. .. if they wanted the movie to look like Eastman film.. there was nothing stopping them. Even the decision to shoot on digital. The movie looks the way it looks because R. Scott wanted it to look that way, not because of the camera system. Scott just don't want it looking like Eastman stock. He wants it to look new and forward looking. I doubt that he could have had so much clean shadow details with a film negative as is present in the final product. And considering he chose to have so much in deep shadows. It was probably a selling point for him to switch. I am simply too tired of the old arguments against digital cinema cameras. This is not Public Enemies where Michael Mann made the prohibition era look like cheap handicam HDV footage with smeary 360 degree shutters and all that. A camera is just a light recording device. Nothing more.

[@thetalentof]

@@jarg8 Their last great films were only 3 years ago and before that in 2015 (they seem to release great films in the same years as each other for some reason) but I find that Spielberg's style is more engaging from a storytelling perspective including his use of blocking, shot composition, camera movement, his track and dolly usage especially (the Spielberg push) is more effective at making the emotional climaxes reasonate at the right moments throughout the story compared to Ridley.

[@thetalentof]

@@jmalmsten There is no digital camera that can replicate eastman currently. Ridley's decision to shoot with digital was based on convenience in order to move faster and get more footage covered in a shorter shooting schedule and work more safely (instant playback instead of waiting for daily rushes). But the trade-off is that digital looks cheap and forgettable whereas 35 looks cinematic. Compare the 4k's of The Hobbit to LOTR, Matrix Resurrections to The Matrix, Jurassic World to Jurassic Park, Alien Covenant to Alien, Independence Day 2 to Independence Day, Furiosa to Road Warrior, Dial of Destiny to Raiders of the Lost Ark and Horizon to Open Range (just on a visual comparison) and there's still a big difference in quality - better color contrast & transition, resolution and dynamic range on 35. Comedies and Horror movies especially have suffered from digital - I watched both 'Totally Killer' and 'Ghosted' last year and it just looked like cheap fan films compared to movies in the same genres and budget levels shot on 35 like 'A Quiet Place 2' and 'Wedding Crashers,' it's not even close.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

@@thetalentof Id like to know what you are smoking that makes you think anything Spielberg or Scott made in the past 15 years is even decent. I sure could use some positivity right now, because looking at their work over that time period, it looks like shit to me.

[@iforgot87872]

Second half writing felt convenient. One of the emperor’s is suddenly like “I kinda don’t like my brother suddenly” then Denzel is like “nice, and I’m the only other person in the room, perfect.!”

[@JonBrownSherman]

IRL Caracalla always hated his brother and actually ended up killing him in front of their own mother

[@iforgot87872]

@ would have been nice if the movie foreshadowed that, would have been super easy also.

[@venicec3310]

Yes they rushed that way to quickly even denzel murdering the brother aswell

[@christophertom5552]

​​@@venicec3310 For a 2 and a half hour movie, everything in the movie was rushed.

[@thegunslinger1363]

My local cinema re released Gladiator back in October. Whilst in awe watching, I often said to myself "Why make a sequel to this masterpiece?"

[@TheSuperappelflap]

To get those dollar bills

[@bdleo300]

Because they cannot create anything new and original. Hollywood today is 100% g4rb4ge.

[@shreksoffspring]

Gladiator 2 was perfect in my eyes, one of the best movies to come out this year

[@johnneyjohnson8607]

I loved the chessy of it all. When Denzel was riding that white horse with his gold cape at the end. I busted out laughing in the theater. I enjoyed it knew i wasnt getting historical accuracy.

[@arya8165]

Gladiator II is just one among many recent films that are a perfect example that shows Hollywood is dead and completely out of ideas. Just keep churning out worse and worse sequels.

[@momon969]

Hollywood had it's chance, and I for one am ready for a global movie industry dominated by Bollywood and Nollywood.

[@GrievousReborn]

I think part of it is them being risk-averse the video game industry has the same problem

[@GRB-tj6uj]

​@@GrievousRebornboth games and movies are so expensive to produce nowadays that they are afraid to take any risks. And there are no mid range products anymore. A lot of famous franchises started as smaller projects with a mid range budget. When the first installment proves successful they would invest more in the sequel. But those initial mid range projects are not made anymore

[@arya8165]

@@GrievousReborn They have become risk-averse cause they keep blowing 200 - 250 - 300+ million dollars on a single movie. In 2025 we're getting like 35 or so movies and all but like 4 of them are all sequels. Hollywood has forgotten how to make epic films for 40 or 50 or 60 million dollars.

[@tmotus84]

They should call me

[@mr.tillius8119]

Great analysis! I just got home from watching it and you are so right about this feeling lacking in so many areas

[@LoveStallion]

I accepted your call to action! I've watched your videos for ages and didn't realize I wasn't a subscriber. Well earned, sir. You always put out nice content.

[@TheeKittyPie]

This comment made me realized I wasn’t subscribed either??? I feel terrible I’ve been watching for years 😢 I’m so sorry captain

[@CobraTrainer]

The main character being called "rage filled" but then not being angry was one of my biggest complaints. It's textbook tell dont show. Yes, the actor is not really the best fit for the role, but the script also does little to show the anger honestly. I also dont understand how they could fail to create an emotional connection between the audience and the main character, and to more thoroughly let us understand and see the connection between him and his wife. It totally undercuts the death of his wife, i felt absolutely nothing when she died because we as the audience had spent like 30 seconds with the characters at that point. That really undercuts the main characters motivations even more. This is not rocket science lol, this sort of storytelling has been done since the dawn of cinema, i mean the original Gladiator, Braveheart, The Patriot, The Punisher, these are just some examples that does this. The thing that pisses me off is this could have been solved by adding 15 minutes to the beginning of the movie, letting the audience spend time with the main character. It's such an easy fix and something hollywood should know how to do by now. Overall it was a bad movie, copying almost everything from the original but doing it worse in every way while also introducing its own mistakes and problems. The battles are ok, but honestly there are much better sword/sandals action to be had, the example of Spartacus you gave is a good one. Filling the arena with water sounds badass, but i dont think it really worked all that well in the movie. I didnt come out of the cinema fuming or anything, i had pretty low expectations to begin with, but i was still a bit disappointed which is saying a lot.

[@mrsmilescam1550]

I don’t understand why these movie keep making these mistakes with us not getting proper character development with the main character. That what movies are, in part, all about!

[@ShadowSonic2]

@@mrsmilescam1550 In this case it wouldn't have mattered, because the lead actor simply wasn't very good outside of the action scenes and was outacted by all the Veterans in this films like Connie and Denzel

[@df6148]

This is hilarious because I agree. Like when Denzel said he loved the main character as his gladiator because he was “filled with rage” I sat there and thought to myself… like no. He doesn’t come across as a character filled with Rage. If anything he was quiet.

[@TheeKittyPie]

If anything he was one of the most calm and collected characters of the film. He constantly had restraint. Some of the other gladiators he had to fight seemed way more rageful than he

[@gottfriedosterbach3907]

Just imagine, probably the only director making historical films outside of Poland tells you to Get a Life if you care about historical accuracy. Lovely time to be a fan of the genre.

[@dakotaskyes]

It's fiction.

[@bigguy3636]

​@@dakotaskyes it's fiction 🤓

[@dakotaskyes]

Good one bigguy3636..

[@DeathsInverse]

Y'all kill me pretending to be history buffs 😂

[@bennett4789]

you should get a life though

[@bryanf7179]

I think the original Gladiator is one of the greatest achievements in modern cinema. So I was skeptical about II. But I had a blast at the movie theater seeing it. It's a fun reboot with an epic performance from Denzel Washington. Go to the theater with the right attitude, and have a great time reentering this world after 25 years.

[@AvengingTiki]

Saw it last night- what an incredible review. You hit every thought I had on the film and made several points I hadn’t thought of that I immediately agreed with.

[@AJR21110]

I thought the movie was terrible, especially when you compare it to the first one.

If you watch a new movie just to compare it to a similar beloved one (Gladiator is probably in a lot of Top 10 movie lists), you will probably find it terrible 99% of the time. I also prefer the first Gladiator obviously, but do you really need to compare that much. I know it's a sequel but it is also it's own movie. I mean do you always compare the second chapter of a book to the first one and say "the first one was better". I think it's not fair. I had a good time even though there were some stuff I dislike. Was I entertained? Yes. Was it better than the first movie? No. But I don't think it's a terrible movie.

[@christophertom5552]

Kind of hard to not compare them when it takes on the name of the original. Plus there being a 20 yr gap in between the two movies, one would have expected a better product. The comparison I make would be Top Gun. That movie tied the first one back in much more naturally. This one was forced hard

@@christophertom5552 You're right, there are other better sequels out there, but saying it's terrible is harsh to me. And yes we will compare to the original, but it feels like this movie starts at -1 because of that and I don't think it's the right mindset, that's all

[@LaTierraNueva19]

Terrible is an exaggeration. I mean not great, but if you set the first films aside, this is a well made film. It’s at least just Okay. A solid 6/10

@@LaTierraNueva19 Exactly, not great but not bad. If I watch Gladiator in the future, I might consider watching the sequel as well

[@Stevie-pr8tk]

i think youre mistaking suspension of disbelief for historical accuracy. No one is complaining because of historical accuracy. People get upset when a movie breaks their suspension of disbelief

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

5:00 - 5:20.... When film fans forget that Denzel spent some of his later cinematic years working with Ridley Scott's late brother, Tony. To me, Denzel's casting was actually a THANK YOU from Ridley for being so collaborative with his late brother and respectful of the craft. Tony Scott knew what he was doing in casting Mr. Washington in his 2000's to 2010's action films. Bankable star, semi-coherent stories, just enough flash and dash to keep Denzel fans coming back for more. Gotta respect that notoriety and admiration Ridley has for Denzel!❤

[@thegreenbaron6439]

What does any of that have to do with what the narrator just said?

[@ezraclark7904]

I quite liked it, I only saw Gladiator for the first time last week but it's my husband's favorite movie. I enjoyed the greater presence of political maneuvering, especially Denzel's character (although I do acknowledge that going for a fight at the end is a suicidal move), and the two ship battles were A+.

[@KingDanny9]

I agree, the political intrigue in part 2 was more fun to watch. The script was better too overall.

[@Guru630]

the movie doesn‘t need to feel historically accurate, but it needs to feel historical

[@6Churches]

It seems unfathomable that the twin-emperors are not always surrounded by a dozen attendants and a dozen elite guards - that Denzel was ever alone with them seems world-breakingly unjustified

[@TalosBjorn]

The fact that this movie even got greenlit is absolutely pathetic

[@blackmanwithcomputer]

Not necessarily, it's just too short and doesn't focus on establishing relationships.

[@TalosBjorn]

@blackmanwithcomputer no, it sucks and should not exist. Gladiator was an Oscar winning seminal film in the same category as Citizen Kane. Making a cgi heavy direct to DVD retread sequel for no other reason than to serve as a quick cash grab is disgraceful

[@stannyb3346]

​@TalosBjorn it's not disgraceful calm the F down. This sequel takes nothing from the original film which is still able to stand on its own a classic.

[@TalosBjorn]

@stannyb3346 no, the existence of the sequel cheapens the original by default. It's like watching the original star wars films is inherently less enjoyable now because you know that canonically, the dogshit Disney films exist. Hollywood needs to stop making brain rot MCU sequels and reboots of every piece of genuine art in its Canon and allow some things to remain holy. I don't want a remake of its a wonderful life starring Leslie Jones, and I sure as fuck don't want a sequel to Gladiator

[@stannyb3346]

@TalosBjorn no it doesn't. The existence of another movie doesn't make anything "inherently less enjoyable, go outside and touch some grass.

[@lifeandtheuniverse42]

Thanks for shouting out Rifftrax. Some of us have been fans from the jump.

[@MrMultiPat]

I am a huge Roman History fan so while I loved the great costumes, combat, and the sets, it was insanely absurd at times. The goofy stone switches that open doors, the paper menus at the cafe with the senator, and other details were just the height of absurdity. I get that it's historical fiction, but why put so much effort into getting the big picture parts correct (sets, costumes, armor) only to fuck up other details.

[@christophertom5552]

I argue the combat scenes were really wonky. The first big battle scenes I was like, "eh ok their trying to move the story along" but several combat scenes after that were just straight up terribly done. None had the impact that the scenes in the first one had.

[@HeliodromusScorpio]

You think you are or you justin started. The costumes weapons armor almost everything is outdated for late 2th century standarts. That movie is a abomination

[@madmalkavian3857]

Meanwhile there's me internally complaining that the Praetorians don't have their cool banner. Edit: Both films changed the Praetorian standard from scorpion to a laurel with nothing inside.

[@TheSuperappelflap]

Really, paper menus? JUST WRITE IT ON THE WALL

[@shelbehill6084]

You probably didn't finish seeing the movie all the way because this was a good movie.

[@Persiaking10]

It feels like the script for this movie was written by ChatGPT

[@erinsharing]

i really appreciate how unafraid you are to like things and simply appreciate them unironically. Its very uncommon to see that nowadays and it's nice to get some KZbin content that isn't so hateful all the time

[@grandmufftwerkin9037]

Denzel didnt even have the decency to drink himself to oblivion like Reed did. Talk about failure to stick to canon!

[@bennett4789]

that's just fucked up man

[@eveann5750]

You want to do historical epic and yet historical accuracy is not important? Ridley Scott, are you okay?

[@Brandon-kt1qh]

It’s not a historical epic, it’s a historical epic fantasy. I don’t want to come off as pedantic when I say that because the distinction is significant.

[@gawkthimm6030]

the fact that Ridley talked so much down on historical accuracy while his Napoleon flopped so hard is pretty Ironic...

[@neptuneninja]

No historical epic film is historically accurate. If you expect them to be, than obviously you’re not the sharpest tool in the toolbox. If you want historical accuracy, watch a documentary, but if you expect historical accuracy from a movie than your stupidity deserves the disappointment you will receive. From expectations that are unrealistic. It’s akin to expecting pigs 🐖 to fly, it’s not in the dna !!!

[@daniellauricella5132]

He’s just kind of an asshole, near as I can tell. He’s a director with a head so swollen it can be seen for miles who lashes out at any criticism of any of his work because how dare anyone not think his movies are all flawless masterpieces.

[@burnttoast26]

I've come to dislike fictionalized "historical" stories. The fictionalization of the Mary Celeste was popular enough that it corrupted actual historical documents

[@JoshuaWillis89]

Lucius never resonated emotionally with me because the death of his wife felt contrived and out-of-character for General Aurelius, who was shown as a measured tactician. The revenge plot felt forced and it certainly wasn’t helped by the way Lucius was written and acted. She’s supposed to represent the core motivation for his character, but she’s treated like a total afterthought once he arrives in Rome.

[@captainmidnight]

To be fair, why wouldn’t a measured tactician take out an enemy archer shooting his men in battle?

[@HBarnill]

It's Modern Day Ridley Scott. Why is anyone surprised?

[@anubusx]

I agree i hated what he did with the Alien franchise.

[@rorylynch7775]

Ridley Scott is like George Lucas. He's an immensely talented visual director and his movies are very well made on a technical level with great cinematography, but he really needs other people to help him when it comes to stuff like story and characters. The alien prequels are a good example because they rely too heavily on the human characters being stupid to drive the plot

[@arminxvs3372]

Too many as it seems online 😂

[@HBarnill]

@ Sounds a lot like Chris Nolan as well.

[@jacobhamelin214]

He's so overrated

[@MrHardcoreTv1]

You can't tell me a 69 year old denzel washington is able to put up a fight with a mid 20s Lucius..

[@otg_dre]

He wasn’t….

[@IcyDiamond]

Heh 69 nice

[@ventsislavstefanov9590]

Wait until he crosses the Alps as Hannibal.. that would be more believable lol...

[@ScofieldStudios]

Has the same vibe as John Wick fighting the 60-year-old mob boss at the end of John Wick.

[@PlasmaTwa2]

I wouldn’t say he put up much of a fight in the actual movie. He briefly takes the advantage against a Lucius who just fought in the Coliseum, but he’s dispatched pretty quickly.

[@Sicboyz-ku2wr]

Gladiator is one of my fav movies. The historical epic is probably my favorite genre. And this movie delivered what I wanted. I hope it succeeds at the BO so we can get more sword and sandal. Thank you and goodbye.

[@Sizdothyx]

It didn't fall short. It tripped on the starting line.

[@christophertom5552]

And just scrambled and never recovered

[@Detvanliga]

Connie Nielsen got more screen time than "our Hero" and spent it all running around whining... .

[@crealiv]

I watched the first Gladiator film for the first time very very recently and I gotta say, I feel like they tripped out of the gate the moment they made Lucius an outsider to the Empire. Think about it, the most common complaint I've seen about this film is that it's just replaying Gladiator's greatest hits, and Maximus hadn't even been to Rome until he became a gladiator. He was an outsider, and that gave him an advantage. With Gladiator 2, they just pulled a Men In Black 2 and rinsed and repeated the vibe of the first one. They made Lucius the same exact type of guy even though a) it doesn't really make sense given how the first film ended; and b) it isn't very interesting since we've already seen a better version of that character (Maximus). Imagine this instead: It's Gladiator 2. Lucius is our main guy. He's been living in the new Rome all his life, acting as a noble advisor to the Senate and helping foster the new roman republic. He's a pretty chill guy - a compassionate, determined, if a bit neurotic (in slightly Commodus-esque sort of way) man, but a good man overall. He's a savvy politician (perhaps learning from his mom), he's learning to fight from experienced gladiators, and he's trying to be the kind of man that would make Maximus and his ancestors proud. But then he learns of a plot against the senate and the republic, and fears that everything Maximus and his mother fought for is at risk of crumbling. Lucius (maybe alongside Denzel's character) tries to uncover the plot and raise the alarm but slowly starts to mentally unravel, and soon learns that the corruption goes so much deeper than he thought. The conspirators claim that he's too much like his uncle Commodus to be good for Rome and start to strip his power away, leading him right back to the fighting pits that Maximus had to use to save Rome. Bingo, we have a different type of character and plot that adds some freshness to the story while still honoring the legacy of the first film. idk just spitballing here

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

The writing sucks, I mean you can complain about unnecessary sequels all you want but the real problem is David Scarpa, who also wrote Napoleon and All The Money in the World

[@iforgot87872]

Second half felt convenient, like shit would just happen so Denzel could rise further up. He did all that in like 4 days. Why not make him already a bit popular in Rome, would have been more believable.

[@abdelali9279]

It's not that I don't like sequels, but it's the modern legacy sequels that I don't like, because instead of being an organic continuation of the story feels more like a greatest hits compilation but with some elements remixed.

[@Death_Korps_Officer]

I wish Ridley Scott would retire from directing films.

[@bdleo300]

he should have retired 15 years ago.

[@radguurl]

As fun as this movie was in the moment, it absolutely fell short. SPOILERS. -As much a I get why they opening credits were a summary of the first movie, they should have been a flashback of how Lucius was sent off, ended up Numidia, grew up, met his wife and married. As when his wife died, I felt nothing because we never got a chance to know her. Which sucks, because she has a lot of potentential. -There should have been more conversations between Lucius and Marcus Acacius, especially since Marcus is his stepfather. They also never made it clear thatr Marcus was a soldier under Maximus, as that's only in the press info. Having Marcus be Lucius stepfather and married to Lucillia could have been an amazing dynamic. -Pedro Pascal was robbed and needed to be in it WAY more. -Maximus EARNS the respect of his fellow gladiators. In their 2nd battle, one of them even says he served under him. Lucius never earns the gladiators' respect and they just blindly follow him. They don't even know that he's Lucilla's son/Marcus Aurelius' grandkid. They just follow his orders for zero reason. He doesn't seem to have a single friend among them, unlike Maximus. -I don't blame Paul Mescal for the acting, I blame the script, which didn't know what he wanted to be. Sure, he's out for revenge against Marcus Acacius but him being Maximus' son, discovering his mother is still alive, that he's still in line for the throne but wants to bring back the republic? They should have had him pick a lane and stick to it. -The CGI sucked when it came to animal and took me right out of it. This movie needs a couple of more run throughs of the script and needed to be tightened up. The pacing was off too. And they needed to be better with reinforcing the dream of Marcus Aurelius and why anyone should care. In what could have been an A-/B+ film was very average and a C

[@MrOtistetrax]

I’ve been tuning into this channel for a couple years now. I’m still waiting for the free gifts and prizes.

[@toplookingdown971]

At least we got the barrels of fun lol.

[@neptuneninja]

@@MrOtistetrax Oh sorry didn’t your mom tell you, she already happily accepted the free gifts 🎁 and prizes 🍆 years ago. I hope her hips have recovered, I did tell her reenacting the 2016 Redbull bull riding championship ride was a terrible idea and I’m hopeless at playing a bull. But she wouldn’t listen, then she threatened to turn on the lights. Obviously I didn’t have a choice and I’m sorry she suffered but her suffering is only minor, compared to the lifelong trauma inflicted onto poor soul !!! 🫣😳😖😫😩🥺😢😵

[@CinnamonGrrlErin1]

I love the Rifftrax shoutout at the end! I can't wait to watch their commentary on the Star Wars Holiday Special again this year 😂

[@wfox4418]

I really think this could have been a great movie if it hadn’t been trying to imitate Maximus’ story so hard. Let Lucius be aiming to come back to Rome and to become Emperor from the start. His desire for revenge isn’t because of his wife dying in battle, but because he was pursued by assassins his whole life and denied his family’s legacy. He becomes a Gladiator not as an enslaved soldier but as cover for returning to Rome and making contact with his supporters in the city. He and Denzel Washington’s characters are very much enemy of my enemy and have a complex alliance until the twin emperors are dealt with.

[@justinjackson7688]

gotta love when a sequel starts off by making the sacrifices of all the characters from the first film irrelevant

[@calimerohnir3311]

"Get a life" in this particular case means go outside and touch grass instead of watching this movie

[@momon969]

I think it's pretty shitty to tell people who care about history to get a life, while also expecting people to care about his own, altered version of history.

[@gottfriedosterbach3907]

Nobody asked him to read Ross Cowans book For the Glory of Rome, but maybe at least use an outline that gets important key figures correct and maybe learn a few things about gladiators in a movie called Gladiator would be nice.

[@daniellauricella5132]

@momon969: Well, honestly, Ridley Scott is a pretty shitty person near as I can tell.

[@drakehashimoto685]

Terrible thing to say, and I agree with the other commenters in here. Not surprised someone like Ridley Scott would say something like this.

[@daniellauricella5132]

@@momon969 Since my last reply seems to have disappeared, here is me again saying that I agree with you.

[@kunak2963]

Just wanted to say your content is underrated and i love watching your videos!

[@onaraisedbeach]

Just watched the original after being deeply disappointed by Gladiator II. The films aren't remotely in the same league. Every set in Gladiator is immaculate and practical supplemented by CGI. Every line builds character, and every second line is infinitely quotable. The characters are downright Shakespearean, with thematic arc that serve the narrative and themselves as individuals. The ending is a 'loss' but also a 'win', and the joyous music that plays over the final shot makes me cry every time. Gladiator II, by comparison, feels like it's on auto-pilot. The pacing is way too quick, the characters feel like hollow NPCs, the sets look grand but entirely fake, and the narrative is a confused mess. My god was it derivative, with constant memberberries and corruptions of quotes from the original to an extremely distracting extent. Also...we don't talk about the were-monkeys... Original 10/10, Gladiator II 5/10 at best

[@IcyDiamond]

I don’t like how it undoes the happy ending of the first one where the senate supposedly rules again People will say “But it’s historically accurate that Rome falls!” Okay so? Commodus didn’t kill his dad in real life yet that was in the first one. Are we just cherry picking what parts of history we do and don’t wanna abide by?

[@otg_dre]

Technically we don’t know that he didn’t kill his father it’s been speculated that he might’ve

[@IcyDiamond]

@@otg_dre Google says his dad died from natural causes

[@gawkthimm6030]

historical accuracy is like Spice in food, it can make something better or worse, but it requires the meat and potatoes of the story to be solid.. So if a story is lacking in other areas, historically inaccuracy is just another point against it, while in a masterpiece like Gladiator 1, its historical inaccuracies was easy to overlook.

[@christophertom5552]

@IcyDiamond- I felt the second movie literally left things in a worse spot where no one qualified is left to govern.

[@IcyDiamond]

@@christophertom5552 Huh good point actually

[@BookBuddy7]

To the surprise of no one

[@AlejandroFlores-ty4qv]

I don’t understand the hate I liked it

[@donmunlin]

I discussed it with my brothers, in that I believe this movie should have had a downer ending of sorts. Lucius survives, but Marcrinus succeeds in becoming emperor. Since the historical figure's reign lasted only a year, and news of Scott wanting to make a third entry, then the third can be about Lucius accepting and rising to the seat of the emperor. Just my opinion.

[@Astro_Mickey]

I thought you had over a million of subscribers already dang, your my go to movie channel

[@jimmyboydonald6578]

I like his thoughtful analysis and constructive criticism .It makes a refreshing change from ranting, which are a dime a dozen on KZbin.

[@grandmufftwerkin9037]

Gladiator II missed the mark more than Michael Bay missed the point when he made Pearl Harbor. And that's a lot.

[@LeGoldTelesto]

🎵 and now, all I think about is your smile, and that shitty movie too. gladiator 2 sucked… and I missed you 🎵

[@dariustang9670]

I honestly get so excited for your videos

[@jackhamey659]

so just because Scott cant be arsed to read a history book, wanting my films set in Rome to depict Rome accurately i my fault?

[@neptuneninja]

@@jackhamey659 No no not at all, your at fault for the ridiculous expectation that historical epics are historically accurate. That’s akin to expecting your wife not to bump uglies with your child’s school PE teacher. It’s not in there nature, like it’s not in your her nature !!!

[@jackhamey659]

@@neptuneninja What the fuck is wrong with you? ever seen waterloo? zulu? saving private ryan?

[@fernandasoares6257]

@@neptuneninja wtf

[@jackhamey659]

@@neptuneninja what the fuck is wrong with you?! seriously your choice of metaphor is incredibly concerning. Also, have you never seen Zulu, Waterloo or saving private Ryan? What about band of brothers? Or are you more a fan of bullshit movies like Fury which completely ruin a real life story for some zombie mowing down action flick?

[@neptuneninja]

@ cmon tell me that comment wasn’t hilariously funny ! 😉🫢😂

[@foxesofautumn]

Ridley Scott’s high-mindedness about Napoleon would hold more weight if he’d made any effort to capture any of Napoleon’s interesting characteristics at all. I guess if you want to mock him, that’s fine, but Monty Python did it better.

[@captainmidnight]

Agreed

[@JR-kx3jr]

I’m not sure if the original idea for Gladiator II would have worked, but it would have been more interesting.

[@Feuer_Kampfer]

2:17 I mean, after the death of the real Commodus, there was the war of the 5 emperors and the father of these 2 brothers won, and after going to Britannia to try to conquer what is now Scotland, he dies, leaving his two sons as co-monarchs of the empire...

[@James-kv3ll]

Falling short of one of the greatest films ever made isn’t the insult most people think

[@abuferasabdullah]

LETS GET 1M For this guy 💪🏼💪🏼

[@TheWosniakGambit]

"Fear is the mind-killer." Hollywood is so terrified of trying anything new, including a new film about gladiators that has nothing to do with the classic, that they are sinking themselves. Personally, I used to hate horror movies, but lately I've been giving a few a shot because at least they're trying something new within the box. It Follows, Late Night with the Devil; far from perfect, but at least creative Long winded, I know, but I'm just tired of "in name only" entertainment.

[@SIZModig]

Mescal and Daniel Radcliff could be brothers, I hope someone casts them both as such.

[@chrisc3797]

Thanks for a balanced review explaining your mixed reaction, much better than others who are just trying to dunk on it, or not understanding Ridley Scott doesn't care for historical accuracy and the film just uses ancient Rome and historical figures as a backdrop to tell a story. I enjoyed the film, and seeing some things pulled/referenced from history, like Caracalla making his pet monkey, Dondos, a Consul of Rome, kinda like what Caligula or Nero did with his favourite horse.

[@murrvvmurr]

The brothers give twilight vibes

[@jorge23483]

I liked Denzel Washington's character motivation, not only rules but taking the ideals and laws of The old Emperor and using them against Rome itself, the slave ascending to Emperor... But the last 30-20 minutes were not so greatly developed.

[@licechrispies]

5:16 don’t do Mike Tyson like that 😂

[@robward8247]

YOU SWAPPED OUT THE JAZZ MUSIC. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@nickkester4486]

It feels like Denzel’s character should have gotten tricked, ala John Wick Ch. 4’s villain, the Marquis. Lucius takes a hard hit to trick the crafty, but aging man into stepping in to steal the coup de grace. Honestly, they could steal it wholesale and it would still fit better than “70-year-old man fights guy 40 years his junior and predictibly loses.”

[@solvseus]

"Who cares about what happened 400 years ago" - a guy talking about a real person he'd just made a movie about who died 200 years ago...

[@adanomic949]

I think this review hits the nail on the head. Leaving the theater I had almost all of the exact same thoughts. While I enjoyed the movie, my biggest complaint was with the motivation and Stakes laid upon the main character. It never felt quite complete and I didn't totally believe his motivation throughout

[@Certamaniac]

The music was done by Harry GregSON-Williams, not Gregory. On the topic, I recommend the entirety of the sideways channel's videos on music theory and scoring.

[@cthellis]

I generally dislike trying to measure “generally fine and pretty fun” with “who asked for this?” and “did not need to exist.”

[@offensivename11]

Can I just point out something about accents? The modern Received Pronunciation accent didn't even exist in its modern form until the Victorian Era; it definitely didn't exist in any form in the Roman Imperial era. Romans speaking English with upper-class British accents is just something we accept from the movies, partially because we probably don't have the strongest idea of what a Roman Imperial accent actually sounded like. I haven't seen the movie, but I'm told Denzel Washington keeps his American accent; perhaps this is just the movie emphasizing that he's a foreigner.

[@edwardlouis3428]

They spoke Latin in different dialects, not English.

[@calebford6318]

This was great, but im eagerly waiting for the Penguin video Mr. Midnight.

[@captainmidnight]

I feel like it might be too late now…maybe I should, though.

[@benwasserman8223]

Honestly in the last month, the Fall of Rome component this movie’s going for feel quite appropriate. Also Denzel killed it as always

[@homielander5924]

Denzel playing Denzel

[@johanstone]

What's with the epic music playing through this?😂

[@SeriousRodger]

10:00 it’s not Gregory… it’s Harry GREGSON-Williams

[@afrolund80]

With the whole, sharks under the coliseum thing. One might say this movie "jumped the shark."

[@HimAsHimself]

I fell asleep watching it last night at the theaters. I watched the first movies 4 hours before. It's not very original with the story, the action and visuals were nice but the story, the villains were meh. I wasn't routing for the main character the same way I with Maximus. Gladiator 2 is like the Boruto to Naruto. Lots is happening in short moments but lots of moments where I felt wasn't original or provided anything new. This was diet compared to the masterpiece of Gladiator

[@merrymachiavelli2041]

Urgh. Okay at 04:00. I'll preface this by saying I didn't particularly mind Denzel Washington's accent (it kinda worked for his character, I think). But I hate hate hate when reviewers treat 'historical accuracy' as a binary, where it either matters or it doesn't. When you watch a bit of historical or fantasy media, what you're going for is verisimilitude and immersion. To say 'well, this movie isn't accurate anyway' is missing the point. People enjoy generally historical/fantasy media more when they can get lost in it, and not think about the fact they are watching a bunch of 21st century actors wearing costumes prancing around a movie set. To that end, unless maybe it's a satire, you need to remove stuff that is jarring and out-of-place (actually, occasionally, even when it might debatably be accurate or plausible).

[@realfitzmarker]

It's a shame Juba (played by Djimon Hounsou) wasn't in the film. If scheduling conflicts didn't get in the way, Juba would've been a part of Lucilla and Acacius's conspiracy to overthrow the Emperors.

[@localprime8868]

Idk how so many have this opinion. It was good.

[@arnoldfreeman2885]

I totally get it with Russe Crowe. I never thought he was anything special, until I’d seen other actors do what he did, but poorly.

[@DigiBrad]

This movie will never touch the first movie. The battles with the monkeys looked pretty stupid. The water battle definitely needs some suspension of disbelief. Lucius is not as impactful compared to Maximus but a bad movie this was not. It had quite a few interesting things as soon as the story took its own turn and it was definitely enjoyable

[@maxer33]

One sentence review: In a sequel no one asked for, Denzel save the movie in the 3rd act.

[@CullenCraft]

The historical accuracy point is a weird one because the pre-show that played before the imax screening focused almost entirely on "here's what we did to make rome feel legitimate"

[@JoeChillton]

I sorta wish it did go more insane like the pitched idea, that sounds way more up my ally, but they wanted something very safe and aside from Denzel, you could wait till on video for this. Hey it wasn't Alien Covenant or Gucci so there is an upside to Ridley Scott here.

[@bennett4789]

i think it wouldve been cool if denzel washington's character found a random guy who wanted revenge against rome and schemed to present him as the son of maximus and use him as a gladiator as a ploy to take power. you could have both the character and the audience thinking he is lucius, only to reveal that the real lucius was killed after the first movie

[@Thelegacyreeborn]

So agree with you. Talked about this on my channel too. Good video man!

[@homielander5924]

Movie needed more rap music

[@bdleo300]

we wuz romanz n sheet