Between Gladiator y Gladiator 2 24 years have passed. It was very clear to us when we saw Gladiator 2 that Ridley Scott‘s new film was, at the same time, a sequel, a reboot, a remake and a tribute to the first installment. Come on, we could say that Gladiator 2 It continues the story of Máximo, but also remakes it, modernizes it and pays homage to it.
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Starring Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington, Gladiator 2 uses its stellar cast to cover all those plots and moments that made the first installment valuable. The bravest detour has to do with the emperors, here doubles and also further away from the protagonists. This perfidious side starts this time from the slaver who buys the protagonist, and who is played by Denzel Washington, top Oscar favorite from now on. As for Pedro Pascal, the truth is that his character is less interesting than his always charming presence. He acts as a rival to the protagonist but also as a temporary substitute for Máximo in it. It’s been, let’s say, a while since Paul Mescal began to transform, little by little, into the figure that should remind us of Russell Crowe.
Paramount
But Máximo’s shadow goes much further. The most personal and remembered element of Russell Crowe’s Maximum was in the gestures. The original gladiator liked to touch the terrain, the earth, the mud, before each combat. He was a person who used touch to connect with the place and time he was in. And yes, that’s what Paul Mescal does too. His character also does not hesitate to touch the ground and feel the terrain between his fingers at all times. Although, perhaps, not as consistently as Máximo. But you don’t have to go even that far to find the best reference for Gladiator 2 a Gladiator. In fact, you only need to watch the first scene.
Paramount
The mythical beginning of Gladiator He showed us a hand that caressed the wheat. Later, of course, we would know that this field would be the afterlife in which Máximo’s wife and son would receive him after his death. That caressing of wheat became a symbol of Gladiatorparodied ad nauseum. Well then, Gladiator 2 He knows it and, as a sequel, he shows us the literal evolution of that scene. Gladiator 2 It begins with Paul Mescal touching the grains of wheat, already collected, in a basket before the battle. It is, of course, a way of repeating concepts but showing a literal evolution, in this case pre and post harvest.
Without a doubt, a beginning that connects both films. A seemingly unimportant gesture that, however, refers to one of the most iconic moments in cinema. And the sequel couldn’t let it go.
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