IR Film Review: GLADIATOR II [Paramount]
The essense of epic is an idea not lost on Ridley Scott. In recent years, he has reapproach those opuses that have stood the test of time with varying degrees of success. With "Gladiator II", the heart and approach is in the right place. This is definitely a better outing than "Napoleon." He is anchored by great actors and they are up to the challenge. Denzel Washington gets the most depth of field in many ways and Scott uses him in ways that Denzel has not flexed in a while, simply because he is Denzel. But the aspect of Russell Crowe as Maximus (and to a lesser point Joaquin Phoenix's Emperor) looms hevaily over the film. In fact some of the most gripping moments hark back specifically to the intensity of that with actual footage.
There are moments in the arena including one with Pedro Pascal and later with Connie Nielsen that are inherently worthy of the mantle but this is a story of coming to terms with family. Paul Mescal, in his first large role, does hold the screen quite well, especially when he has to do so against Denzel. The scale of the film is also no joke but it is mostly told inside the arena. The Hamlet-esque aspect is less pronounced here. It is more a reverse Othello (which Denzel tackled as well). The story notes are sound but it lacks the grandoisity of John Logan's script and the intensity of Hans Zimmer's original score. Neither of those collaborators returned, Logan is not perhaps the go-to scripter he was before and Zimmer plate is unbelievably full as well.
The politics are there but the essence of the darkness in the first one (especially the "Am I Not Merciful" scene) is missing from this. The twin emperors (with one placed by Joseph Quinn) are psychotic but malleable. Phoenix felt dangerous at that time in the role. These boys feel more like figureheads. Granted there is other power behind the scenes but it lacks muscle in that way. There is much loss in this film, like in the first film. In terms of comparatatives, it does the same thing that "Prometheus" did as compared to Scott's original "Alien"....it has some cool aspects but it still doesn't quite hold up to the original though it does admirably in what it does. Like the 70s, the moviegoing experience is different but the casting here as always is great but the performances are almost transformative.
Denzel owns the screen when he is on it. He is thinner. lean and plays a man with altriusm not in his heart (much like in "Training Day") and that is what makes him compelling to watch here. Pedro Pascal's soldier is a bit of a pansy ultimately but that doesn't take away from the tragic structure of his path, which makes his own singular moment perhaps the best in the film. Mescal is still being formed but his strength is palpable. It such a transformation from when I first saw him introduce his first widely seen film: "Aftersun" at Cannes a few years ago. "Gladiator II" does an admirable job, hits the right points but just in all its points is a slightly paler version of the original "Gladiator" yet every way as muscular in many ways. A-
By Tim Wassberg
