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Gladiator II finally arrived in theaters this past week, and it was a ton of fun. But I do have one major complaint.
Let me preface this by saying that I saw this film a few weeks in advance. It was epic, sitting in an IMAX screener and watching this magnitude of a giant movie go down on the big screen. The 2024 movie schedule wanted to deliver an epic film for the conclusion of the year, and it certainly did with this movie.
But there’s just one little thing I have to talk about: one character’s misuse that makes me a little perplexed as to why they were even there in the first place. And that’s what we’re going to get into now.
Big spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen Gladiator 2 yet!
Overall, Gladiator II Had Everything I Was Looking For
I want to start this by saying that I didn’t hate the film. I thought it was fun.
Look, the first film is a classic. There are so many great behind-the-scenes Gladiator moments that I love to talk about. Some people have only watched the first Gladiator for the first time, but I’ve been a longtime fan.
When I found out a second Gladiator was happening, I didn’t know how great it was going to be. A lot of the time, these legacy sequels tend to fall flat. You rarely get a good one that not only captures the essence of the first film but builds on it in a better way.
Gladiator II doesn’t reach the heights of the original, but there’s still plenty to love. The fight scenes were intense, which makes sense since the training for Gladiator II was tough. The action felt leveled up a lot from the first film. Overall, it was enjoyable and gave me what I was looking for.
Denzel Was A Standout, But Paul Mescal Was A Good Leading Choice
Everyone and their mother is talking about how Denzel Washington was the standout of this film, and I fully agree. But that’s a big issue.
This isn’t even the main character I have an issue with, but I have to say that the marketing team of Gladiator II certainly made choices with who they promoted in the film. I’ll say that Paul Mescal was an excellent leading choice, and I think he held down the role well, but the person we are all talking about is Denzel, who undoubtedly stole the show and seems most likely earn an Academy Award nomination.
But he wasn’t marketed nearly as much as some of the other stars of this film. Most of them felt as if their characters were pretty forgettable or not developed at all. That’s what led me to my biggest issue.
I’m Disappointed In The Lack Of Connie Nielsen
Connie Nielsen was one of the few characters from the original film who came back for the Gladiator II cast. And I was severely disappointed in the lack of her character.
I know what people are going to say – she had a significant role in the film. We saw her a good amount. But to me, it just wasn’t enough because it felt like she was just sort of shoved in for the development of Lucius’ backstory and how he became the warrior he is now.
If this was a different kind of Gladiator film – maybe something that took place in a different universe – I might have been alright with that, but the thing is, Connie Nielsen’s character, Lucilla, was such an integral part of the first film. She was a driving force of the story, with that insane, weird sibling love that Commodus had for her and the forbidden romance between her and Maximus.
Now, she’s back, and we find out that Lucius is actually Maximus’ son and that Lucilla isn’t as powerful as she once was, and is trying to take back Rome from the two evil emperors who took over. But that’s really… it. She tries and fails to surpass the power with a plot, but is betrayed, as is her husband.
And that’s another thing – we know nothing about how she and Acacius came to be. We know they married after Lucilla sent Lucius away, but that’s it. How did they meet? How long have they been together? Since Lucius was gone? Did they try to have any other kids? But nope, he’s killed, too, and we don’t get any other story about these two.
It’s strange – it felt like Lucilla was in the film, but she wasn’t. She was just kind of there as a story point for Lucius, and I wasn’t a huge fan.
Her Character’s Demise Felt Lackluster and Heartless
Another issue is her death.
Before anyone says anything – no, I have literally no issue with her dying. I’m actually okay with characters dying for the sake of the plot and pushing forward with the story. As a certified TV lover, the amount of heartbreaking The Walking Dead deaths I’ve had to deal with for the sake of the story is enormous.
But that’s the underlying issue. You can kill people, but it has to mean something. It has to have a significant impact, and it just…was not here.
The movie relies on the classic “show, don’t tell” for Lucilla. They want us to imagine what happened to her during those sixteen years, feel bad for all she’s gone through, and feel our hearts swell when she has a half-assed make-up scene with her son that felt so forced.
Yeah, I didn’t believe it. I feel like one moment, Lucius was yelling at Lucilla to get out, and then the next, they were hugging like everything was normal, and he was devastated when she was shot in the heart as if the last sixteen years hadn’t happened.
As an audience member, we did not see enough of these two seeing each other again and healing their long-winded wounds for this death to indeed mean something to us. The only symbolism that we really see is that she’s shot in the same place Lucius’ wife was shot in – the heart. But it’s supposed to mean more because she is his mother, and she did everything to protect him and all that.
But it just doesn’t feel the same. The emotion could have been great, but because of the lack of development between them and the building of chemistry, it almost feels like nothing.
The Ending Was Fine, But There Could Have Been More Done
The ending of Gladiator II is acceptable. It’s kind of a typical bittersweet ending, where the good guys win out but not without a ton of losses. We see Lucious grieve his mother and father in the Colosseum, but it just… ends after that.
And it’s just not believable.
His winning totally is, but all these feelings that he has – I don’t know. He never really knew his father at all, aside from when he was a child, and then he had a long-held grudge against his mother until the very end where, miraculously, it’s like nothing ever happened, and he’s heartbroken that she is killed.
I understand that the human mind is complex and strange to understand sometimes, but I think it’s more that it just feels unbelievable to me as an audience member to see him grieve them when there is so much negative history there. Perhaps I’m heartless; who knows? But that ending could have been much better if we had more time to develop.
Ridley Scott has been blunt about why this film took so long to make, but I think maybe it should have waited a few years. If you’re going to bring back characters from the first film, at least give them a better story to follow or more runtime for their interactions so their deaths mean something.
I’m not sure if there will be a Gladiator III. Denzel Washington most likely won’t be in it, and Nielsen most certainly won’t either. But all I can really ask is if there is, and you bring back another character from this film, give them depth. Please give them a story that makes them a legend. Otherwise, they’re at risk of becoming another Lucilla – just another chapter in someone else’s story.