By With the film beginning its rollout this week, reviews have now arrived for the “Gladiator” sequel and while overall good, it sadly sounds as though this isn’t going to be a home run.
With 70 reviews counted, the film sits at 79% (6.8/10) on Rotten Tomatoes. Denzel Washington’s performance is acclaimed and quite a few like the action’s wilder moments involving creatures, but quite a few aren’t so enamored with the story.
In the film, years after witnessing the death of Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) must enter the Colosseum after the powerful emperors of Rome conquer his home.
With rage in his heart and the future of the empire at stake, he looks to the past to find the strength and honor needed to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Here’s a sampling of review quotes:
“It’s a Saturday-night epic of tony escapism. But is it great? A movie to love the way that some of us love “Gladiator”? No and no. It’s ultimately a mere shadow of that movie. But it’s just diverting enough to justify its existence.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“An elaborate imitation of its predecessor. If little more than a cover song, however, it’s a majestic and malicious one that reaffirms its maker’s unparalleled gift for grandiosity.” – Nick Shager, Daily Beast
“At times, Gladiator II is pure camp. To insist that it shouldn’t be is to hold on too tightly to the dour expectations of the 21st-century blockbuster. It has a modern outlook but provides a throwback, too, to the genre’s florid history.” – Clarisse Loughrey, Independent
“Washington’s relaxed command of this juicy role translates into pure pleasure for the audience: every gesture radiates movie-star ease; every line comes with an unexpected flourish. Unfortunately he’s so good he rather eclipses the rest of the cast.” – Robbie Collin, Daily Telegraph
“Gladiator II might not have a protagonist with the scorching glower of Crowe’s Maximus, but it has plenty of the eye-popping spectacle and operatic violence audiences will want.” – David Rooney, THR
“Scott’s most disappointing “legacy sequel” since Prometheus. It’s a scattershot effort with half-formed characters (with one exception) and undernourished plotlines that seem to exist only in conversation with the Russell Crowe original.” – Kevin Maher, Times
“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.” – Alison Willmore, Vulture
“Unfortunately, Scott has chosen not to fill every one of the 148 minutes with quotable moments or with a strapping Paul Mescal taking on soldiers, sharks, or mad monkeys, and when Gladiator II is being neither wild nor crazy, it’s all a little dull.” – Alonso Duralde, The Film Verdict
“A series of bloody melees that culminate in a flat advocation for peace, without any deeper meaning.” – Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence
The $300 million+ budgeted feature also stars Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Djimon Hounsou, Matt Lucas, Lior Raz, Peter Mensah, May Calamawy, Tim McInnerny and Derek Jacobi.
“Gladiator II” opens in cinemas internationally from November 13th and in U.S. cinemas on November 22nd.
The post The “Gladiator II” Reviews Are In appeared first on Dark Horizons.
