Gladiator II review movies in Ridley Scott con Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen e Joseph Quinn [Anteprima]
Paul Mescal in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II (Credits: 2024 Paramount Pictures)
A series of moving paintings and a titanic soundtrack open the second chapter of one of the films that made the history of world cinema.
24 years after the release of the first film, it returns to theaters Ridley Scott with the continuation of The Gladiatorset about 30 years after the events of the first film.
Gladiator II narratively extends the story of the first chapter and sees Lucius as the protagonist (Paul Mescal), son of the late and unforgotten Massimo Decimo Meridio (Russel Crowe) and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) as well as nephew of the murdered emperor Marcus Aurelius. Immediately after his father’s death, the young Lucius is removed from Rome and from political plots in an attempt to protect him from the brutality of the Roman nobility and lives, now an adult with his wife and son, in the coastal city of Numidia.
War knocks on his door when the Roman soldiers led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) to conquer his new adopted land, they capture him and take him back to Rome as a slave. The entire story is based on the story of Lucius’ revenge and his attempt to bring Rome back into the hands of the people as in the wishes of his late father who, on the verge of death during the fight against the Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), implored the people for Rome to return to being the great eternal city free from the corruption of the Senate.
Pedro Pascal in II di Ridley Scott (Credits: 2024 Paramount Pictures)
Spectacularity and wonder are the main ingredients of the film, seasoned with a strong story of personal revenge and self-determination that is influenced by the legacy of the first film, deciding to continue its ideological story without giving up its narrative independence which makes it in all respects, a noteworthy film that only occasionally suffers from the shadow of its predecessor.
The inevitable technological evolution that occurred between the two chapters allowed a completely new search for grandeur and detail which made the landscape and combat scenes even more grandiose, risking, however, at times, falling into the opposite excess, depriving some scenes of the adequate adherence to reality that this type of history requires and needs in order to appear faithful to itself and to the historical legacy it bears (ed. for example in the naval combat scene inside the Colosseum where sharks are present, an inaccuracy far from the historical truth).
It is clear that this second chapter has had as its objective since the beginning of its production that of meeting the needs of the fandom without, however, making up for the greatness of the previous film. It is no coincidence that the director chooses, for example, to accompany numerous scenes of the film with the famous soundtrack of Hans Zimmer which has moved and excited audiences around the world for years and recall some of the actors present in the previous cast to weave an imaginary thread in the memory of spectators and create in them a sense of affection towards the story they have already experienced two decades earlier through the screen (ed. Connie Nielsen in the role of Lucilla e Peter Mensah in the role of Massimo Meridio).
The story of Gladiator II it is in fact the natural continuation of the previous film and is not afraid to show it: opening titles that seem like paintings that retrace the tragic story of Massimo Decimo Meridio and the continuous references to the facts told in the previous episode are proof of this as well as a tool for the viewer to place the events chronologically and narratively.
Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II (Credits: 2024 Paramount Pictures)
Ridley Scott builds a skilful epic drama supported by an extremely solid plot that is perfectly coherent with what was told in the previous chapter through an emotional photography full of flashbacks and dreamlike scenes that catapult the viewer into a story that draws its strength from the narration of a story extremely human, the true peculiarity of this cinematographic product. It is indeed evident how much The Gladiator is above all a story of hope hidden under the glitter of the Roman soldiers’ armor and the spectacular nature of its visual architecture.
A story that appears sadly current from a historical point of view but which reminds us that a dream and an ideal must never be forgotten or suffocated by the arrogance of others, we can all re-emerge from the ashes and inspire other lives with our light, as happens to Lucius at the end of the film.
Connie Nielsen in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II (Credits: 2024 Paramount Pictures)
