Well, will I have to revise my skepticism about the sequel to Gladiator? The answer is a resounding YES. According to critics who had the chance to see the finished film, it’s Ridley Scott‘s best work in years, Denzel Washington delivers an Oscar-worthy performance, Pedro Pascal confirms his star status, Joseph Quinn is the perfect heir to Joaquin Phoenix as the antagonist and yes, Paul Mescal is no slouch behind Russell Crowe. In other words? We’ll be entertained.

A plot that follows the same formula, with a spoiler

In the original film, Ridley took the then-less common concept of using real characters around fictional ones. Creating a plot based on an image of a painting, where a gladiator kneels before the Emperor who, with his finger pointing downwards, determines the death of the loser, the film tells the story of a Roman general, Maximus (Crowe), who is wronged by the new emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) who kills his family and sells him into slavery. Obsessed with revenge, he returns to Rome as a gladiator, challenging an Empire.

Due to Phoenix’s great performance, the plot gained dense dramatic proportions, aligned with the unforgettable soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. On Maximus’ side, there were important characters, the main one being Princess Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), Commodus’ sister and Maximus’ ex-lover. A widow, she was the mother of Lucius, who also became attached to the former general. And it is precisely he who – in the role of Mescal – leads the story now.

25 years after the death of Commodus and Maximus, Lucius Verus II, now an adult and married, is the target of the hatred of the current Emperor, Geta (Joseph Quinn), and for this reason, his family is killed and he is sold into slavery. Of course, as a gladiator, he returns to Toma in search of revenge and to be able to return the glory of Rome to his people. Same story, don’t you agree? There’s a surprise…

For 24 years, there have been fans who have argued that Lucius was actually Maximus’ son, without the gladiator knowing. Lucilla, who was the target of an incestuous passion of Commodus, kept the secret from everyone to protect her son’s life. However, now she reveals the truth to him.

With flashbacks, replacing actor Spencer Treat Clark (the original Lucius) with Alfie Tempest, we will see how Lucilla’s secret will become clearer.

Some changes from what we knew

While Denzel is Macrinus, a very wealthy arms dealer who uses and pays for the gladiators, and Pascal is a general loyal to Rome, Joseph Quinn will not be Emperor Caracalla, as initially believed. Nor will Barry Keoghan be in the cast, as first announced.

In 2023, it was believed that Keoghan would be Geta and Quinn Caracalla, however, now it is Quinn who plays Geta and actor Fred Hechinger replaces the Irishman as Caracalla. Did you catch up? Well, let’s get to the historical changes.

The real Lucius Verus was wrongly accused of having murdered Geta (in fact killed by the jealous Caracalla) and at least according to the trailer, it doesn’t seem like that will be the problem.

From what we know, we now see Geta ruling Rome very much in the vein of Commodus and alongside Caracalla, both seem a bit unbalanced. The brothers clearly enjoy watching brutality as entertainment and consider the gladiators to be actors in a play.

At least Commodus idolized fighters! In Joaquin’s interpretation, Commodus was born evil, but his ineptitude, highlighted by his father, Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), made him feel wronged and humiliated. That’s why he dreamed of being able to fight – which ended up being his end. I don’t know if Geta has the same fighting ability.

Gladiator 2 hits theaters on November 14th and promises to be one of the highlights of 2024. Are you already looking forward to more entertainment? I am…

Pesquisar

Pesquisar