Gladiator II Review: Paul Mescal spearheaded historic-war-drama is a royal mix of ambitious storytelling and adrenaline pumping, gory action

Name: Gladiator II

Director: Ridley Scott

Cast: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen

Rating: 4/5

Plot:

Gladiator II is based 20 years after the events of Gladiator, that is 200 AD. Lucius Verus (Paul Mescal), the former heir of the Roman Empire, and the son of Maximus (Russell Crowe) and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), lives with his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen) in Numidia, North Africa. It is Lucilla who had sent him to Numidia after Maximus’ death, to protect him from Rome corruption. Both Lucius and Lucilla have not had any communication for over 15 years. 

General Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), who trained under Maximus, invades Numidia with his troop, killing Lucius’ wife and forcing him into slavery. Like his father Maximus, Lucius resolves to fight as a gladiator under the teaching of Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a former slave, in order to overthrow the young emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn).

Will Lucius avenge the death of his wife by overthrowing the young emperors Caracalla and Geta? Will he ever meet his mother again? Are there betrayals? Who survives and who dies?

Watch Gladiator II to find out.

What works for Gladiator II

Almost everything not just works but works excellently for Gladiator II; From story to screenplay, and from scale to cinematography, background score, visual effects, performances and more. The movie is breathtakingly shot and the canvas is massive. It is truly an immersive experience. What you witness is magic on celluloid. The cinematic brilliance of the movie reminds you of why you fell in love with movies in the first place. 

Gladiator II is full of adrenaline pumping action sequences. The war scenes and the combat scenes are choreographed spectacularly. The strong emotional core makes everything you see, very convincing. On the whole, Gladiator II is an able successor to one of the greatest period-war-action-dramas of all time, Gladiator.