Paul Mescal ain’t no Russel Crowe, but then again he is only the son of Maximus. He follows the same path in life…from soldier to slave to Gladiator. I’ve given away the obvious as the plot slowly reveals the plight of poor Lucius (son of Lucilla) after the death of his uncle, the Emperor, at the hand of Maximus in a final showdown in the colosseum.
CGI and special effects give us a good idea of what Rome looked like in it’s heyday and the story lets us know exactly how politically corrupt the onetime world power really was. As a tourist who’s visited Rome and a few other colosseum’s in Europe thinking they are magical places, witnessing what really went on there is an eye-opener.
While visiting the Roman Colosseum, I was told of how they channeled river water in to flood the floor and re-create mock naval battles. One scene in the movie does exactly that and it’s quite amazing to witness the ingenuity of the Roman people two thousand years ago.
Connie Nielsen returns as Lucilla and a good eye will catch and remember one of the Senate members who starred in the original. Denzel Washington adds a few plot twists while you try to figure out if he’s a good or bad guy.
Cathryn opted out of Gladiator II thinking it was too gory for her. She was right. I saw it instead with a buddy and we both thought the movie was very good. We gave it a 9 out of 10.
Who doesn’t like Denzel Washington? I can think of one or two of his movies I didn’t like, but can’t think of one that I didn’t like him in. Many of us complain about sequels, like I just did with Jurassic World, but it’s hard not to cheer for vigilantes like Denzel’s Equalizer character.
Life Written and Reviewed 