Gladiator II
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal
Genre: Crowe-sequel
Should a film set in ancient times be historically accurate and politically correct? If it is politically correct then can it possibly be historically accurate? And vice versa?
This was the dilemma while watching Gladiator II, the sequel to the also historically and politically questionable Gladiator. But does it matter?
I was probably overthinking these things while watching Gladiator II, which like its predecessor is mostly memorable for its great action and fighting scenes (featuring Russell Crowe, of course) in ancient Roman contexts. An irony is that modern technologically impressive CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) in the new film results in even more extreme fight scenes between soldiers, gladiators and animals. More extreme, but also more historically inaccurate.
Gladiator II is simply great, mindless fun. Ignore the hard-to-believe, two-dimensional human relationships, and the supposed politically correct and political messaging. Just enjoy the scale of battles and the fighting animals which weren’t ever a thing in the Coliseum – not that there’s anything wrong with riding a rhino or condemning your “bad guys” to shark attacks. So, boo the “villains” and cheer on the “good guys”!
And while it may be a challenge, ignore too the huge number of gruesome deaths, though that’s probably the most historically accurate part of the film.
Ultimately, like most action-focused past (historical) films, and future (science-fiction) films, the easiest thing to do nearly always is just embrace movie fantasy and the non-science fiction.
Rating: Three empires
