| Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 22, 2024 | CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
38
Mixed:
22
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews
Screen RantNov 11, 2024
Gladiator II really soars when it does the unexpected and, for the most part, that only happens when Washington, Quinn, and Hechinger are onscreen. It doesn't make for a well-rounded film, but it does make for an entertaining one. For all its faults (of which there are only a few), Scott is still fully in control of this massive undertaking, letting his contemporary sensibilities bleed into the gravity of the past.
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Nov 11, 2024
Gladiator II finds strength and honor in the well-worn armor of its predecessor. Paul Mescal is adept in the belabored-hero role, going toe-to-toe with not only the delightfully deranged Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, but also with Denzel Washington, whose mercurial Macrinus practically screams “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED” at the audience every second he’s onscreen.
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Nov 20, 2024
Much of the plot feels like we’re retracing the footprints of the original, especially in the early going, and there are a few moments when the CGI looks like one of those slick but cheap AI demonstration videos you see posted on social media, but “Gladiator II” is a welcome slice of R-rated, popcorn movie fun in the middle of the generally super-serious awards season.
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Nov 22, 2024
Nov 22, 2024
Gladiator II maps closely onto the original film’s structure and style, so there’s not much about it that is surprising or unexpected. The film itself is a son, made from the same DNA, in the same image. It is the only “Gladiator” sequel that could possibly exist and exactly what you expect, for better or for worse.
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ColliderNov 11, 2024
This incredible cast, especially Washington, Nielsen, and the overlooked Pascal, and this expansion of the compelling political machinations make Gladiator II a worthwhile sequel, even if it can't match its predecessor. Gladiator II will leave you entertained, but leave you with an unfortunate feeling of déjà vu.
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SlashfilmNov 11, 2024
Gladiator II gets the job done. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and it doesn't have to. I don't for one second think Scott is setting out here trying to make an absolute masterpiece; he's content to simply make a damn entertaining action pic with an pulpy old school sensibility. Third act machinations aside, Gladiator II ends up being rather simple in its construction, and perhaps that's ultimately its greatest strength.
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RogerEbert.comNov 22, 2024
Can a film be too much and not enough at the same time? This is the conundrum of Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II," a movie bursting with just enough spectacle to keep it from being boring but, when you try to get anything out of it thematically, slips through your fingers like the sand in a warrior's hands.
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The Film VerdictNov 11, 2024
Unfortunately, Scott has chosen not to fill every one of the 148 minutes of this sequel with wacky, quotable moments or with a strapping Paul Mescal taking on soldiers, sharks, or mad monkeys — rest assured, the Aftersun star does do all of those things — and when Gladiator II is being neither wild nor crazy, it’s all a little dull.
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Nov 21, 2024NMENov 11, 2024
If you loved Gladiator, it’s odds-on you’ll enjoy this too. It’s got all of the same exciting bits – swordfighting, rousing speeches, nasty poshos getting what they deserve. The problem is that’s all it gives you. You want to feel like you’re watching Maximus lift off his helmet and deliver that iconic monologue for the first time again. You want the thrill of a core memory being unlocked. You want to know you’ll be quoting Mescal’s lines to your mates in the pub for the next 10 years. Gladiator 2, piously respectful as it is, can only offer a faded memory of that experience. There was a dream that was Rome – and this is kind of it.
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Nov 11, 2024
In terms of brutal spectacle, elaborate period reconstruction and vigorous set pieces requiring complex choreography, the sequel delivers what fans of its Oscar-winning 2000 predecessor will crave — battles, swordplay, bloodshed, Ancient Roman intrigue. That said, there’s a déjà vu quality to much of the new film, a slavishness that goes beyond the caged men forced to fight for their survival, and seeps into the very bones of a drama overly beholden to the original.
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Nov 14, 2024
One can’t help but feel as though the whole movie were periodically bellowing the original’s most famous line: “Are you not entertained!?” The answer is no, not really, and no amount of digital gladiatorial carnage or bug-eyed overacting can mask the prevailing air of exhausted, decadent imperial decline.
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Nov 11, 2024
Tension between characters seems to evaporate all too easily, meaning it’s hard to really see any weight in their words or actions. This, combined with the flimsy conceit that a fundamentally corrupt institution can be changed from the inside out with a few good men, means that Gladiator II lacks both the gravitas and simple but satisfying narrative arc which made its foundation such a refreshing epic.
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Nov 14, 2024
Washington has the most fun, swishing about in dangling jewels and flowing robes, while Mescal—one of our best young actors—struggles to define Lucius outside of Crowe’s shadow. As for the relentless fights and battles, I found them to be increasingly tedious—even the wild ones with animals, given their reliance on CGI effects.
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