GLADIATOR SEQUEL | RIDLEY SCOTT / PARAMOUNT

[jye4ever]

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.

I agree about the filth, violence and just all around misery it totally made me feel like I was in the NYC subway.

 

[davejames]

Ridley also continues to do a really bad job chopping his 4 hour epics into a 2 1/2 hour movie, as you can tell from the editing that a LOT was cut out of this movie.

And yeah I know the original movie took a lot of liberties with historical accuracy, but this movie never feels connected to the real world at all, and just feels like a complete fantasy at times. Especially when you're watching multiple sharks swimming around in a flooded coliseum. Lol

 

[jye4ever]

I kept waiting for the JAWS theme to kick in then a T-Rex to join the battle.

 

[ZE_501]

"What we do In life echoes in eternity"

What we do at the box office echoes in accounting.

 

[CessnaDriver]

I may see it someday, but not yet...not yet.

 

[Sassafras]

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.

So basically if you are in the U.S. the real tragedy is that after a massive dinner we won't be able to watch this at home over a late evening turkey sandwich, because it's brain junk food and that's what you watch over a late night turkey sandwich. Kind of like Meg 2 except the men are all in dresses.

 

[Wor-Gar]

sharks swimming around in a flooded coliseum. Lol

Is that true? They do that in this film?

 

[jye4ever]

Is that true? They do that in this film?

Ummm

Yup

The romans caught sharks and drove them hundreds of miles by horse to the coliseum, true story.

I said….true story!!!

 

[Wor-Gar]

So Gladiator II is also a ... cartoon?

 

[jye4ever]

So Gladiator II is also a ... cartoon?

Cartoon monkies

Those monkies and sharks would never fit in Gladiator 1.

 

[Mandible]

Couldn't pay me to see this one; Ridley is way past his used by date and that lead actor has all the on screen charisma of a tree stump.

 

[davejames]

So Gladiator II is also a ... cartoon?

For the most part it felt pretty grounded and much in the style of the first movie, but you can tell that Ridley felt pressured to up the spectacle and make the gladiator matches a lot bigger and crazier this time.

The irony of course is that the best fights in the movie are just between two dudes with a sword, or with no weapons at all. Or fights that don't even take place in the Coliseum at all.

 

[Remembermyname]

What we do at the box office echoes in accounting.

Very true, everything is about debits and credits.

 

[Alatar]

My review of the film is here.

 

[jye4ever]

My review of the film is here.

But I want it here