Gladiator II
Directed by Ridley ScottYears after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Cast of Gladiator II
Gladiator II Ratings & Reviews
- Mister Arn20h agoGladiator II, Ridley Scott’s sequel, picks up years after Maximus’s death. While the visuals are impressive and the battles well-staged, the story lacks the emotional weight and charisma of the original. It dazzles, but doesn’t resonate.
- VarunDecember 5, 2024This movie is grand but shallow at the same time. I watched this in IMAX and the scope of the set pieces are absolutely amazing. The lighting is also handled really well. And the fight scenes go hard, it’s shot with clarity and the sound design makes it perfectly impactful. On the one hand the powerfully emotive acting does affect the gravitas of various scenes, but the character writing and story is weak and hence it fails to pull any of your heart strings. It felt more like a nice looking entertaining flick to pass the time but not much complexity to care enough about the story. The emperors this time around are two caricaturish lame villains with no backstory and zero bite. Paul Mescal is fantastic, never seen him embody such a ferocious masculine personality. I wish we could see at least some camaraderie between him and his teammates but there’s none. At least his conversations with Ravi was a nice touch. Denzel is also masterful as usual, using his cunning wiles to ascend the ladder, but in the end his plans also get a bit comical, which is inevitable when dealing with empty character writing for the emperors. God they really underutilised the legacy characters, Grachhus is barely in the movie while Lucilla isn’t up to a whole lot of scheming here and is mostly relegated to being a grieving mother. I enjoyed seeing Pedro Pascal but also it seemed too similar to Maximus’s character so it felt like a repeat, I guess I noticed it more since I watched the first movie 2 days before this sequel. Spoiler Ahead. I also feel the Lucius reveal was kind of meh, didn’t really enhance the story for me that much and it seemed forced, the writers just chalk it up to fate that he ends up in Rome as a gladiator. I did learn something new though, that kids with blonde hair can actually turn into adults with dark brown hair. Despite tons of flaws the movie was entertaining enough and is worth checking out for the epic visuals and action scenes.
- darsan4d agopaul mescal, pedro pascal, denzel washington had great performances, the action and visuals were great and it made this quite enjoyable but the villain fell flat compared to gladiator 1.
- Chris Haynes5d agoDONT WASTE YOUR TIME!!! This was 100% Trash!!! Should've never made a Sequel to the original Masterpiece!!!
- Tom Cooper7d agoThis ain't it, kids.
- FlyinGoatMay 14, 2025Grand Production! But terrible plot. No historical accuracy culturally inaccurate. i mean it seems the actors do what they are told okay. But the writing!! terrible. I mean, let AI write the script. I'm sure it could do better.
- Edward SchofieldMay 8, 2025The gods have spoken.
- Alfris EdwardsMay 6, 2025Was expecting a lot more based on the cast but disappointed. Felt as though the movie was rushed.
- Patrick D.May 5, 2025I'm admittedly being a little harsh on this one since it had such big shoes to fill. The good, the bad, and the ugly... The action was pretty good. There was Marvel-quality CGI in some parts... and the acting was underwhelming. Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal were really just cashing a check with this movie.
- jwpi0May 3, 2025"Gladiator" was never Gladiator I, it was "Gladiator" based on, or rather a contemporary adaptation of 1964 film "Fall of the Roman Empire". Now, "Fall" was more of a Henry III /Shakespeareanesque people in rooms talking with a couple of fantastic "Big" scenes type of film, typical of 1960s, nothing like the metal and flesh high in tech combat scenes of Gladiator (and by that I mean Gladiator I). But "Gladiator" (not Gladiator II) is a fresh, fantastic and extremely well produced film in its own right. It stands alone as one of the great historical epics alongside Ben Hur, Spartacus et al. Which brings me to this film. I'm going to dive straight in: lead actor: awful, zero gravitas, poor speach and poor voice projection... It's as though an extra was given the role by mistake. He sounds like he's had a rough weekend and is ordering egg and chips for brekkie before starting work on a Monday morning. That's all I've got to say about whoever he is. I've got a hunch that this whole thing was a massive money spinning exercise designed (and timed) to get people of my generation (or there abouts) having seen G1, to think oh wow! this is going to be great! And make it a day out with the kids, not only to get them fired up about it and spend a lot of money, but inadvertently indoctrinate them into thinking crap film is good film. It's yet another example of a SEVERE lack of original thinking in Hollywood and endless rehashing of past projects. Plot: vaguely differs from the first but steels scene after scene from G1, which for someone like myself having seen G1 a few times, is not only frustrating but just plain boring....and EXTREMELY disappointing. Historical accuracy: you can have a look on Wikipedia, they are more or less in the right year for the so called twin emperors but apparently they never actually ruled as a pair although one was assassinated but unlikely not physically by the other. The surviving brother went on to rule for 6 years after the death / assassination of his brother so blatant inaccuracies there. For me some of the costumes, hair colour, helmet plumage colour are completely out of place or at least overdone. Again it's something to pursue through the Internet if you want to check. Cinematography and general production: This is Ridley Scott, isn't it? Or is it. People age, and when they age they have less energy. I dont give a monkeys about this ridiculous thinking that it's just psychological. When you're well into your 80s...you are OLD. Hollywood have just popped a big name in there to legitimise the project and add a crowd puller factor to what is really not a very good film at all. Denzel Washington: WT actual F are you doing in this pile of s... Rouge budget: Lots of people seem to have a little rouge on their cheeks.... WTF is that all about? Ending: overdone, long and drawn out. Some tragedy, which is not unexpected for this genre. But little or no real intrigue during the film to give the ending any depth or meaning. Just another big fight.... battle.... killing....... thing. Final speeches (sticks finger down throat). Then copy of the original with same / similar music confirms the whole thing is a cop out and a failure. Some films, even though maybe not that great, are still worth a watch, for fun or whatever... But not this one. This film does not need to be seen, it is a complete waste of space. If you're in the mood for this genre, whether or not you've seen G1, you may as well just watch that.
- Ty LeetNovember 27, 2024Fire everyone involved except Paul Mescal and try again.
- RipLinesManApril 24, 2025Event Horizon (1997) was a feral sermon on the fragility of the mind when confronted with the void—but Gladiator II (2025) tears into the sinew of legacy, vengeance, and fate with a roar that echoes not through space, but through blood-soaked arenas and generations of rage. Ridley Scott returns not to repeat but to refine—crafting a mythic epic where the battlefield is as much internal as it is imperial. Where Event Horizon asked what happens when man trespasses into the unknown, Gladiator II asks what’s left when destiny is inherited rather than chosen. Paul Mescal emerges as the thunderous heir to Russell Crowe’s Maximus—not a mimic, but a mirror, cracked and scorched by time. He burns with the same moral fire, but the flames are more chaotic, his fight less about justice and more about identity clawed from ruins. His journey reflects Sam Neill’s Dr. Weir in reverse—where Weir descended into madness to build his hell, Mescal ascends through torment to reclaim something holy from the ashes. The Roman Colosseum is no less haunting than the derelict Event Horizon—it is a stage where souls are laid bare, and gods look away. In Event Horizon, the ship itself was a sentient altar to suffering; in Gladiator II, Rome is the beast, a machine of spectacle and control that devours its champions with applause. And like Laurence Fishburne’s stoic Captain Miller, Denzel Washington’s weathered tactician offers gravitas amidst the chaos—a man haunted by choices, hardened by centuries of empire’s rot. Both films weaponize grief: Event Horizon uses it as a siren song luring men to madness; Gladiator II lets it fester like a wound dressed in glory. Ridley Scott paints in chiaroscuro—sunlight slicing through dust, blood gleaming like oil—while Event Horizon was pure chiaroscuro nightmare, lit by sparks and screams. And yet, both end in a kind of purgatory, where survival does not mean peace. Gladiator II is not just a sequel—it’s a lament, an elegy in bronze and fire. Like Event Horizon, it reminds us that the past is not buried but entombed—waiting, watching, whispering.
- Aaron SladeApril 19, 2025It is a pile of ancient roman doggy doo doo
- dal.giMarch 24, 2025Absolute trash
- brian6583April 7, 2025How did they manage to fill up an amphitheater with water. That's some top quality plumbing. I can't even get a shower tray to not leak.
