10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

It’s been less than a year since cinema’s favorite angry grandpa, Ridley Scott, released his divisive “reimagining” of Napoleon’s story to the world. In that time, Scott has become something of an interesting figure in the film community. While it’s an undeniable fact that he’s a legend, between classics like Blade Runner and Alien, Scott’s been turning in some mixed bags as of late. His attempts at following up Alien with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are much more interesting to think about than actually watch, with his only recent standout being the Matt Damon star vehicle The Martian. His less-than-savory track record aside, the announcement of Gladiator II made me cross all of my fingers in hopes that Ridley would strike gold as he did in those early days. At age 86, Ridley Scott is showing no signs of slowing down, and I think Gladiator II is a worthwhile return to form for a filmmaker who could only benefit from a back-to-basics approach.

Up-and-comer Paul Mescal stars as Lucius, a farmer-turned-gladiator after his wife is killed in a devastating Roman raid. If this setup sounds familiar, it's because it's pretty much the setup for the first Gladiator movie. However, it's on a much bigger scale. Instead of a platoon of soldiers storming a homestead, it's a legion of ships storming an entire village. Ridley Scott’s sensibilities for battle sequences are as sharp as ever, and it makes for some super cool moments that made me feel like I had front-row tickets to the Super Bowl. Frankly, I found that Scott’s grasp on action has only grown between the first Gladiator and now. Similar to contemporaries like the magnificent George Miller, Ridley Scott is still running laps around most contemporary action filmmakers on scales that only he could accomplish. The gladiatorial scenes are awe-inspiring, from bare-knuckle baboon fights to all-out naval combat. I try not to be a stickler about historical anachronisms and stuff like that, but putting great white sharks in a flooded colosseum is a bit far-fetched. The filmmaking is always superb, but I really had to do some heavy lifting to suspend my disbelief there. My nitpicks aside, I still had so much fun. I feel obliged to confirm that I was, in fact, entertained.

There’s something always so reliable about Ridley Scott. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that he is a master at creating larger-than-life stories with maximalist scales. His knack for massed armadas, enormous setpieces, and operatic storytelling creates tried and true entertainment, which will always make him a compelling filmmaker to me. He’s so excellent at creating these vast worlds with beautiful scenery, and his movies only benefit from it on a big-ass screen. The scale all of his films on is unmatched, whether that be oldies like Alien or newer movies like The Last Duel. I suppose that scale is why it’s so easy to get engrossed in Scott’s filmmaking, as his dedication to the craft is staggering. When Ridley Scott is making a big-budget film, he makes sure that you can see every dollar on the screen. The cinematography, music, costumes, set design, it all feels so old Hollywood. If Gladiator II doesn’t make bank at the box office, I’m sure the awards circuit will be more than kind to it.

Paul Mescal plays a good protagonist as always, but I fear that this could be the start of a similar route that Colin Farrell went down in the early 2000s. He adequately steps up to the plate here, but he’s more than a pretty face and a beefy build. Even so, he barely holds a candle to the aura that Russell Crowe had in the original. Mescal is a great actor, but he doesn’t have that same gravitas. Nowhere is a “Are you not entertained?”-esque moment to be found, but I suppose only time will tell. As much as I am a fan of Mescal’s, he simply doesn’t feel like a movie star meant for IMAX screens. On the other hand, I feel like Pedro Pascal was dreadfully miscast as the Roman general Acacius. He has the face and build of a Roman statue, sure, but he has the voice of the most Californian guy you’ve ever met. I feel like Pascal receives a lot of unnecessary flak, but this really was not the role for him. The only actor who seemed to genuinely captivate me was the always-fantastic Denzel Washington as Macrinus, who stole the show from pretty much every other actor. Quite frankly, I could’ve watched an entire movie about his political scheming in Rome rather than a continuation of the Gladiator storyline. Within the first second of Denzel being onscreen, you’re well aware that you’re watching a master at work.

When the first trailer for Gladiator II dropped, it was met with both just and unjust criticism (the unjust criticism being dumb racists being mad over Denzel’s casting, despite him playing a real person). In an era where – let’s face it – most big Hollywood movies are either sequels or remakes, it was easy for fans of the first Gladiator to feel skittish about a follow-up to one of the greatest blockbusters of all time. I’m well aware that there’s a sequel epidemic going on, but I think that alone isn’t enough to write something off completely. I could go on for hours about all of the good legacy sequels out there, but I think that the recent release of Top Gun: Maverick proves that people will see a good sequel if someone makes it. I get the apprehension, especially with Scott’s attempts at making sequels for Alien, but I think his head is back in the game. There was a brief moment where I feared that we were gonna be greeted with the same fanservice that so many of these shitty franchise films have, but Scott is tasteful enough to not pull something as low-brow as that.

Despite the odd anachronism and a miscast Roman general, Gladiator II is a bonafide Dad movie that I can guarantee will go crazy with my old man at home. It’s looking like a pretty barren winter in terms of blockbuster entertainment, but thankfully, Ridley Scott is here to provide exactly that. With a third film already in development, it’s clear that Grandpa has no intention of slowing down, and I welcome that mindset with open arms.

Movie Review: "Gladiator II" Conquers Minor Flaws To Deliver Big Scale Blockbuster Entertainment