Gladiator II
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 22, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 62 Critic Reviews
Positive:
38
Mixed:
22
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Vanity FairRichard LawsonNov 21, 2024
The sequel is epic in length and spectacle, but not in feeling. Read full review
60
The New YorkerJustin ChangNov 21, 2024
We are not not entertained. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeNov 18, 2024
This sequel is so derivative of its predecessor, it’s practically a remake. Read full review
60
NMEAlex FloodNov 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. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonNov 11, 2024
Ridley Scott has lost none of his flair for grandeur, but ultimately Gladiator II is diminished by a nagging recognition that this material felt fresher in the first film — and that Denzel Washington’s devilish schemer steals the picture from Mescal. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyNov 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. Read full review
58
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerNov 11, 2024
All of Ridley Scott's glorious pageantry is undercut by a script tragically burdened by cliches and characters who make stupid choices. Read full review
58
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiNov 11, 2024
One emerges from the theater thinking we may have just had a good time, but the more it sits with you, the more you realize that no matter how epic the battles were — and they certainly were epic — they didn’t have anywhere near the same impact as the original. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 22, 2024
I enjoyed the spectacle of this about as much as I enjoyed “Ben-Hur” or “Napoleon” or “Gladiator.” But it’s hard to find the beating heart of this story because it doesn’t really have one. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 20, 2024
We’ve seen it all before — maybe not quite as spectacular, maybe not quite as dumb. It’s Washington who ultimately makes “Gladiator II” stand apart from the first film and makes it a lot more fun than it has any right to be. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonNov 18, 2024
Thumbs up for Denzel; send the rest of this movie to the lions. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Radheyan SimonpillaiNov 14, 2024
Mescal and Pascal are both fine; though they often seem too overwhelmed by the tired plot machinations to really make an impression beyond how fine they both look in Roman garb. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyNov 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. Read full review
50
Little White LiesHannah StrongNov 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. Read full review
50
IndieWireVikram MurthiNov 11, 2024
Gladiator II” wouldn’t be the first sequel to become bogged down in its resemblance to its forebear, but the various superficial modifications made to characterizations and action sequences operate under faulty bigger-is-better sequel logic. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeNov 11, 2024
Like so many latter-day Ridley Scott films, Gladiator II at once feels half-baked and overstuffed, and the lack of internal consistency robs its action of sustained tension and its comedy of bite. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithNov 22, 2024
Mr. Scott seems content to restage story beats and action scenes from the first film. Most cold-case sequels aren’t very good, and maybe there’s a reason for that. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerNov 21, 2024
There’s none of the visceral artfulness that Scott managed in the original. Quite simply, if you can’t make man-on-baboon hand-to-hand combat interesting, why do you think you can make a sword fight fun? Read full review
40
SlateDana StevensNov 18, 2024
Gladiator 2 (or as it’s spelled in the opening title, GladIIator) sadly comes off as less a reinvention of the original than a curiously literal retread of its plot beats, characters, and themes. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreNov 11, 2024
The thrill of the action sequences just underscores the hollowness of the rest of the enterprise. Sure, not all of us spend a lot of time thinking about the Roman Empire, but those who do deserve better than this. Read full review
40
The TimesKevin MaherNov 11, 2024
The film is peppered with alarmingly dull and horribly written sequences featuring water-treading conversations about democracy, power and the dream of Rome. In short, no, we are not entertained. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeNov 11, 2024
The narrative parallels with Gladiator – taking in soft-edged shadows of the earlier characters – only press home the current project’s second-hand status. It’s no Gladiator. It’s no Asterix the Gladiator. Read full review
More From This Movie

64 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL