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
- Rafael Chaves Gratarolli1d agoNot a good movie at all.
- 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.
- Ty LeetNovember 27, 2024Fire everyone involved except Paul Mescal and try again.
- dal.giMarch 24, 2025Absolute trash
- AndreiTamas5d agogood movie not as good as og but good connection to og . great set designs and costumes good ending
- S JohnsonJanuary 28, 2025Gladiator 2 is arguably the most overhyped film of the past decade.
- JkrilinDecember 26, 2024An epic return to the Colosseum that combines political intrigue, intense battles and a legacy that weighs on the shoulders of the protagonist. The film is notable for its impressive mise-en-scène, visually stunning combat and solid performances, especially from Paul Mescal, who manages to convey both Lucius' fury and vulnerability. While the plot can feel overwrought at times, the unexpected twists and emotional connection to Maximo's story are enough to keep you glued to the screen. It's a worthy homage and expansion of the original universe, with a conclusion that resonates beyond the sands of the Colosseum.
- Andrew KerrJune 14, 2025Had potential. Poor execution. Outdated directing style and cinematography. Frankly ridiculous dialogue and character interactions completely unrealistic and implausible. Wasted good actors.
- DadJuly 24, 2025An automatic 3 stars for Denzel alone. I'm afraid Pedro is getting too much exposure lately, he was awesome in Game of Thrones and the Mandalorian but since then I've been let flat.
- stuhannafordMay 27, 2025It passes a couple of hours, it isn’t a dreadful movie, but the weight of expectation makes it feel such a let down. Standing beside the original, it feels little more than a grand, heavy handed cash in. On its own, it’s perhaps a Hollywood blockbuster, that will live in the memory for a summer and nothing more. The subtleties of the original are replaced by bombastic moments that fail to land. It is at times, an almost play for play reenactment, with small variations, to trick you into believing it’s an original story. Almost every character a substitute with a new name, each with added ‘drama’. Each scene has a touch of, ‘do kind of what we did before, but bigger, bolder and louder’… or just add a shark. Where we once watched Phoenix announce himself to the world with a performance of a complex man child, fighting to disprove his fathers beliefs, only to compound them, we now get subjected to one dimensional, petulant school kids with zero character or charisma. Maximus, a man you would happily follow into war yourself, now little more than a sulky chap with a chip on his shoulder. The intricacies and intelligence of the battles and fights, now just the standard run of the mill CGI scenes that could be plucked from a list of modern movies. The same classic score is used over and again, but added for nostalgia rather than effect, and doesn’t fit. Pascal and McInnerny are the only actors to forge their own way and really hold their own. Even Washington, a great actor by any standard, is hampered by problems, some within his control (the American accent jars), but mostly out… the odd, loud declaration of his sexuality during his first on screen meeting with McInnerny, feels forced and unnecessary. The performances of two outstanding professionals make this abundantly clear, but it’s as if the writers sat down and said, ‘are we sure we’ve hit our inclusivity targets? Let’s add a line just to make sure.’ And it’s these sledgehammer moments throughout, that reduce the project to ‘meh’ rather than ‘yeah!’
- PhineasJuly 14, 2025It doesn't quite live up to the first movie's high standards, and some parts felt a little out of place (looking at you sharks), but strong performances by Mescal and Denzel still make this entertaining.
- J.F. RuizJuly 7, 2025It is a shame.
- Motaba Movie centerMarch 16, 2025The creators couldn't really decide what to do with Gladiator II. At first, it just repeats the first part, but then it falls apart so spectacularly that we start to cry over the boring but reliable first half of the film. Years later, when we talk about movies that shouldn't have been continued, Gladiator will probably come up alongside The Mountaineer or Joker.
- 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.
- Matthew DiPietroFebruary 10, 2025A complete waste of time. A truly awful movie. Characters are shallow. Story is uninspiring. Seriously pointless.
