GLADIATOR SEQUEL | RIDLEY SCOTT / PARAMOUNT

Comic concepts
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Mondragon said:
.... the cuirass armor evolves as more is added to it. Somewhat reflecting the scene/situation he is in:
As first given to him by Proximo (has no horses or tree)
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Then when he first meets Lucius and first faces Commodus it has added the two horses and tree (emblematic of his lost home).
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*(fun fact Latin: Silver & Trigger)
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Then for his second meeting with Commodus (the Tigris battle) it has added the icons of his wife and son. (where Commodus brutally taunts him specifically about them)
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Then for the third and final battle with Commodus, and his own death, it now has added an angel, as he joins them in the afterlife.
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And ...what Lucius inherits.
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Would post it in the figure thread, though it seems to be locked? - https://www.collectorfreaks.com/thr...-collector-figure.173752/page-8#post-10528121
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The whole "take your father's strength" inheriting the armor call back (jump to 1:18 they visually want you to make the connection)....
Which (for anyone with a love of detail that wouldn't mater to most, if you follow above^) references the Armor which specifically depicts, his to-the-death unwavering loyalty and devotion to his lost wife, child and his place in this world (see what the tree and horses represent).
Knowing he has nothing left in this world, gives him the strength to finish what has to be done, and follow them to the next life.
That loyal devotion is what carries the character and movie to the end.

So even though I recognize the set-up allows for Lucius to be his other son (and I even recognized it at first watch way back then), Lucius now wearing the woman, child and "place" as his own inheritance and strength, kind of flies in the face, and betrays everything about the original (for me).

That said, if handled well (I doubt it), all that can in fact be used to serve the drama and angst of the "new" character.

Would also post it in the last figure thread, though it seems to be locked? - https://www.collectorfreaks.com/thr...-collector-figure.173752/page-8#post-10528121
 
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Verdict - Solid action movie. Good spectacle and fan service. But would not pay full price to see this in a movie theater


Notes

- Paul Mescal is in over his head here. He's not bad, he's just not compelling. But the script was not very good. If there's a silver lining here, it's that this film will get more people to look into Mescal's filmography, and give Normal People a shot. It's a short series, but quite well done, where he costars with the lovely Daisy Edgar Jones. They have phenomenal chemistry at times.

- This is not a good script. It's just not. The core story is predictable but pretty flawed. Execution is not great.

- Like many of Ridley Scott's more recent films, there are too many characters, there is only cursory development, many scenes are just not very economical, and it appears he's trending towards the habit of filming an outline instead of a more organic approach built around a cohesive narrative

- The first film was extremely self contained, but there were two lingering threads to possibly exploit for a sequel, and IMHO, Scott chose neither of them. This is just my take on it, but I'm assessing less on my preferences and more on mining fertile narrative ground

- How Denzel Washington handled this ( poor script) was he treated this like he was playing a different character for a different movie. He salvaged his role with his trademark charisma. He did a nice job of stopping right before he reached "mail it in / caricature mode" though ( i.e. the over the top cameo schtick you get from John Malkovich, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Al Pacino, etc, etc)

- The structure of the film is to burn time to get to the next action set piece. There is nothing wrong with that, if you accept that this is an action movie and not a classic/epic tier film

- Like Predators and The Thing reboot, this one oscillated too far into too much homage to the original over just more practical storytelling. From a screenwriting standpoint, it's guardrails versus road barriers. Guardrails are OK because they don't impact the pacing, but legacy canon from the first film turns into road blocks that choke out momentum. Sword and sandal films specifically are very reliant on an effective pace to resonate.

- The best parts of this film are the battle sequences, mostly salvaged in the editing room. The editing on this film did some true heavy lifting. I recognize that specific aspect is harder to translate to a majority of the casual movie going audience. Not a criticism, but a distinction. When you see disjointed areas of a film in it's transitions, and you are jarred out of the world building and suspension of disbelief, consider you are given the most optimal framing possible by the editing room. This is a safe red flag to assess when a production is stacking too many reshoots into the mix. You really do need to start these things with a pressure tested clean script.

- Comparison wise, it's like a poor man's version of Stallone's Cliffhanger, but not as fun and not as self aware. ( I actually love Cliffhanger for what it is but I recognize it's casual disposable viewing)

- Most reviewers are compromised but I suspect many of the stronger reviews are because Scott's films are usually a palette cleanser. Being a modern full time reviewer is not fun in this era. A majority of the mainstream films now are basically lecturing you or trying to shame you into a corner. That bull #$%@ has to be exhausting. No wonder it's a relief to just see some people get stabbed in the face with a sword.
 
I have always been very interested in the Roman Republic / Empire, so I'm pretty sure I won't enjoy this movie very much.
I'll wait for it to hit streaming somewhere, there's no way I'm paying extra to see this.
 
Oh well, the excited reviews from the screenings had me feeling optimistic for a while there, but now it appears my original instincts were right that this will be more like Ridley's recent bloated historical epics than the original Gladiator.

I'll probably keep my ticket for this weekend though, since there's not much else out there right now. And I am curious to see Denzel chewing the scenery. 😁
 
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Idk, I watched a review about it. If even half is correct, this is a nothin burger. I'm really not feeling Danzeiel Washington's role. They claim he's the best part of the film and this only solidifies my fears.

This film was cast for nominees. Him being the nominee, of course.
 
davejames said:
Oh well, the excited reviews from the screenings had me feeling optimistic for a while there, but now it appears my original instincts were right that this will be more like Ridley's recent bloated historical epics than the original Gladiator.

I'll probably keep my ticket for this weekend though, since there's not much else out there right now. And I am curious to see Denzel chewing the scenery. 😁
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Yeah, I've heard enough, and suspicious - let myself get spoiled - whatever; from what I heard I'd see it in theater - or not. :lol

Scott is one of my favorite directors so either/or. He's not afraid of massive spectacle.
 
Yes, this movie succeeded! :yess:

It succeeded at making Gladiator even MORE epic than it already is!!! :yess: :yess:

Ok now I’m being dragged to Wicked Witch of the Offended Persons of Color!

My damn sister couldn’t take “NO THANK YOU” for an answer because she knows Wizard of Oz is beloved by our family. :gah:

The original witch was my favorite movie villain before Vader showed up 38 years later!

I’m literally walking into the movie theater right now. Oh well at least I get free popcorn.
 
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loki2371 said:
This movie sounds like a total stinker, just as expected. Easy pass for me and regulated to the sequels that don't exist... :lol

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I would be lying if I said I wasn’t entertained by the action, but I can only take so much CGI monkies in one sitting.

The action was entertaining, not the story, the action.

sigh

It really made me appreciate the first that much more.

Ok I just sat down for Offended Colored Witch.
 
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Holy crap WICKED was a 9 out of 10! :thud:

What an ending one of the best in quite some time.

Damn the 2 leads killed it especially Ariana.

Wicked > Gladiator 2

Never saw the play and i’m happy I didn’t because it was spectacular seeing it this way in Imax.

When it comes to Ariana, everyone will be:

“Glad he ate her”

:chase
 
Have to say, the movie was a lot better than I expected. The action was solid, the story much sharper than Ridley's recent historical epics, and it was fun being immersed in that world of Rome again. And if there had to be a Gladiator sequel, this was probably about as good as we could hope for...

But in the end the story just trods too much familiar ground for my taste, and while Mescal gives a good performance, his character is nowhere near as compelling as Crowe's. As the hook of a gladiator secretly being a prince of Rome is nowhere near as cool as a gladiator who's secretly this brilliant general and tactician that everyone constantly underestimates. And ultimately I just never found myself rooting for Lucius the same way I did with Maximus.
 
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Go for the action and visuals but that’s it.

Do not walk into this expecting some great meaningful follow up to Maximus’s story I mean so bizarre that the movie tried initially to be mysterious with who the character was, like seriously duh lol

I had zero connection to the main character.

He was decent at playing the part but Ridley knew this was a problem so he tried inserting an extra warrior with his own arc and not even TWO characters could fill Maximus’s shoes!

Don’t get me wrong the movie is NOT a disastrous POS absolutely not that all, all i’m saying is go for the action and the visuals and just the action and the visuals and you will walk away saying ok not bad for an action movie like I did but I was hoping for lightning to strike twice in a bottle.

Maybe i’m wrong for expecting a follow up to Gladiator by the same director to forge its own path towards being a memorable cinema classic in its own right because it certainly will be forgotten in a few months.

Not having Zimmer certainly makes certain of that.
 
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Haven't posted on this forum in a long time but ended up here by chance and saw this thread on Gladiator II, which my wife and I saw last night.

We both really disliked it. The lack of historical accuracy, and the extreme creative liberties they took, didn't even bother me. What did bother me was the gratuitous violence and uninteresting action scenes, the really passé depiction of Rome as a place of extreme violence and corruption and misery, and the really un-compelling story. Frankly, it was boring and, by the end, outright exhausting. The film's best moments were when it connected to the first film, which is a pretty damning indictment of this film's inability to stand on its own. That, and they leaned so hard into those references that after a while they ceased to be meaningful.

I don't want to post spoilers, but there were also certain decisions the filmmakers made that made me wonder, "why even bother with that character in the first place?"

As someone else said a few comments above, this film will soon be forgotten--and rightfully so. It's a very poor imitation of the first film, which had a simple but captivating story, memorable characters, and really tight and exciting action sequences.
 

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