FILM
GLADIATOR II
WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO REVIEW, SALUTE YOU!
EDITED BY JOHN NUGENT
Gladiator Lucius (Paul Mescal) has a point to prove.
Lucius’ mother Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) makes a return; Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) is out for blood; Arms dealer Macrinus (Denzel Washington) is out for power.
★★★★
OUT NOW / CERT 15 / 148 MINS
DIRECTOR
Ridley Scott
CAST
Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, Derek Jacobi, Fred Hechinger
PLOT
Twenty years after being sent away to Africa by his mother Lucilla (Nielsen), Lucius (Mescal) returns to Rome, forced to join a stable of gladiators.
AS HE ENTERS his 88th year, Ridley Scott seems to be having more fun than ever. Early on in Gladiator II, for example, during Paul Mescal’s first big showcase scene as ripped fighter Lucius Verus, Sir Ridley throws a whole troop of ravenous, screeching baboons into the arena to attack Lucius and his fellow gladiators. These demented primates look more like evil little CGI aliens than actual monkeys, but this startling Attack Of The Wild Baboons is just the amuse-bouche for the lavish menu of no-holds-barred, giddily entertaining set-pieces to come. One brilliantly executed fight scene involves a giant marauding rhino, and another somehow features… sharks. Yes, there’s a bunch of the blood-thirsty beasts merrily swimming around in the arena during a re-creation of a sea battle, which will have you Googling “Did they really flood the Colosseum?”