Gladiator II: Did Ridley Scott's return to Rome impress audiences?
A1 Digital India News: Many critics who watched the sequel to the 2001 Best Picture winner said it was largely a repeat, but most of them were surprised by the fights and the epic scope.
Gladiator II is rolling in reviews ahead of its nationwide release next week, and while most critics haven't given it good reviews, it's a glowing review for an action epic that arrives in theaters decades after the 2000 Ridley Scott-directed Best Picture Oscar winner. The sequel earned a 77 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 67 average or "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic.
The story of Gladiator II takes place years after the events of the blockbuster hit Gladiator starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. In the sequel, Lucius Verus, portrayed by Paul Mescal, the son of Crowe's Maximus, is forced to fight in the Colosseum after his home is taken over by Rome's tyrannical kings. Pedro Pascal's general Marcus Acacius is interned at Lucius' home in Numidia and must turn to his past to find the strength and honor to restore Rome to its former glory. Denzel Washington steps into a rare villainous role as Macrinus, a former slave turned gladiator master.
The sequel continues director Scott's arduous pace of large-scale Hollywood epic features, reviving and reinventing film franchises he's championed throughout his career, as he directed Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Scott was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for the original Gladiator, and he looks to bring the epic scope of the storytelling blockbuster back to the sequel.
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter told his readers that the film was a working iteration, writing, "In terms of the brutal spectacle, detailed period reconstructions and vigorous set pieces it required, the sequel delivers everything fans crave." "It's everything the Oscar-winning 2000 predecessor wanted - battle, swords, bloodshed, ancient Roman intrigue, many of the new films have a déjà vu quality, a tale of slavery fighting for survival "Force puts men in cages and enters". The bones of a drama deeply indebted to the original." Caryn James of the BBC writes "Mescal, a paradoxical choice given his sensitive roles in Normal People and Aftersun, is the film's mesmerizing center, animated by the same power and magnetism that Russell did. Crowe embodies the original. It has a less perfect balance between emotion and action than the first, with characters almost overwhelmed by beheadings and swordplay, but it's close enough." The Daily Beast critic Nick Schager is less enthusiastic, writing that the sequel "is an elaborate imitation of its predecessor. Still, if nothing more than a cover song, it's a principled and maligned confirmation of its unique gift". Eventually finding himself a fan of this blockbuster epic, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian expressed similar sentiments to Schager when he wrote that although Scott's return to Roman territory was somewhat repetitive, it is "still a thrilling show and Mescal is a hero. "Formidable" was hilarious."
Boyd Hilton of Empire magazine wrote, "What could have been a cumbersome, predictable sequel to a beloved Oscar winner turns out to be a fun adventure. Whatever Gladiator II does this awards season, it will be one hell of a movie." . "It's a ride.
But not everyone loved Scott's return to Rome. New York magazine's Alison Wilmore wrote, "The excitement of the action sequences underscores the hollowness of the rest of the company. Sure, not all of us spend much time thinking about the Roman Empire, but those who do deserve better." . And Alonso Duralde of The Film Verdict wrote: "Sadly, Scott didn't decide to fill every single one of those 148 minutes with quote-unquote moments or Paul Mescal fighting soldiers, sharks or crazed apes, and Gladiator II is neither wild nor insane, so that's all. I'm a little confused."
A1 Digital India News: Many critics who watched the sequel to the 2001 Best Picture winner said it was largely a repeat, but most of them were surprised by the fights and the epic scope.
Gladiator II is rolling in reviews ahead of its nationwide release next week, and while most critics haven't given it good reviews, it's a glowing review for an action epic that arrives in theaters decades after the 2000 Ridley Scott-directed Best Picture Oscar winner. The sequel earned a 77 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 67 average or "generally favorable" reviews on Metacritic.
The story of Gladiator II takes place years after the events of the blockbuster hit Gladiator starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. In the sequel, Lucius Verus, portrayed by Paul Mescal, the son of Crowe's Maximus, is forced to fight in the Colosseum after his home is taken over by Rome's tyrannical kings. Pedro Pascal's general Marcus Acacius is interned at Lucius' home in Numidia and must turn to his past to find the strength and honor to restore Rome to its former glory. Denzel Washington steps into a rare villainous role as Macrinus, a former slave turned gladiator master.
The sequel continues director Scott's arduous pace of large-scale Hollywood epic features, reviving and reinventing film franchises he's championed throughout his career, as he directed Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Scott was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for the original Gladiator, and he looks to bring the epic scope of the storytelling blockbuster back to the sequel.
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter told his readers that the film was a working iteration, writing, "In terms of the brutal spectacle, detailed period reconstructions and vigorous set pieces it required, the sequel delivers everything fans crave." "It's everything the Oscar-winning 2000 predecessor wanted - battle, swords, bloodshed, ancient Roman intrigue, many of the new films have a déjà vu quality, a tale of slavery fighting for survival "Force puts men in cages and enters". The bones of a drama deeply indebted to the original." Caryn James of the BBC writes "Mescal, a paradoxical choice given his sensitive roles in Normal People and Aftersun, is the film's mesmerizing center, animated by the same power and magnetism that Russell did. Crowe embodies the original. It has a less perfect balance between emotion and action than the first, with characters almost overwhelmed by beheadings and swordplay, but it's close enough." The Daily Beast critic Nick Schager is less enthusiastic, writing that the sequel "is an elaborate imitation of its predecessor. Still, if nothing more than a cover song, it's a principled and maligned confirmation of its unique gift". Eventually finding himself a fan of this blockbuster epic, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian expressed similar sentiments to Schager when he wrote that although Scott's return to Roman territory was somewhat repetitive, it is "still a thrilling show and Mescal is a hero. "Formidable" was hilarious."
Boyd Hilton of Empire magazine wrote, "What could have been a cumbersome, predictable sequel to a beloved Oscar winner turns out to be a fun adventure. Whatever Gladiator II does this awards season, it will be one hell of a movie." . "It's a ride.
But not everyone loved Scott's return to Rome. New York magazine's Alison Wilmore wrote, "The excitement of the action sequences underscores the hollowness of the rest of the company. Sure, not all of us spend much time thinking about the Roman Empire, but those who do deserve better." . And Alonso Duralde of The Film Verdict wrote: "Sadly, Scott didn't decide to fill every single one of those 148 minutes with quote-unquote moments or Paul Mescal fighting soldiers, sharks or crazed apes, and Gladiator II is neither wild nor insane, so that's all. I'm a little confused."