Hi Readers,
Sequels are very popular in the cinemas at the moment with many franchises rebooting and continuing to provide content for fans of the originals or just wanting to make more money on something they know works. Some sequels have years between them and a new generation takes the reins as the star of the film. This is certainly true for Gladiator II. It takes place 16 years after the original events of Gladiator (2000) which has been even longer in reality. We have a new hero of the film but the story fits into the universe of the original even including a few characters from the first film.
I saw the first Gladiator film at home about a week before I saw the sequel at the cinema and even though Gladiator is a classic, I preferred the story of the second film. In the 2020s, films shown on the big screen have more spectacle and the plot has probably been developed more than older films. Standards have changed and audiences, myself included have higher expectations. Films have to compete with the visual spectacles from superhero films to the Fast and Furious Saga and the quality of stories found in indie films.
Gladiator (2000) and Gladiator II (2024)
To start from the beginning, the second Gladiator film has a more dramatic opening sequence with the Roman Army invading the homeland of our hero, Mano. We see that his wife is also a soldier who fights using a bow and arrow while Paul Mescal’s character is trained in hand to hand combat and strategy. Gladiator starts with a battle but it has a long build up and in the forest, it doesn’t feel as exciting or cinematic as the city barriers in Gladiator II. From a modern perspective, the battle in the first Gladiator film has a very masculine, alpha male energy with a woman not being seen until afterwards but we get to see female fighters and also people of colour in Gladiator II. Our hero in the second film participates in the battle but after seeing his wife fall to her death becomes distracted and is knocked out until the battle is over.
Maximus played by Russell Crowe in the first Gladiator keeps his composure and is undefeated in the first battle, showing us his masculinity but audiences particularly in the Generation Z and Millennial age brackets will have encountered ideals of beta males and that men do not have to be alpha to be real men. This could of course have just been a plot device to keep him alive for the rest of the film but I chose to interpret it this way.
The stories follow similar beats, our hero is shipped to a small fighting arena where he proves his worth and is sent to the Colosseum in Rome for the Emperor’s viewing pleasure. Instead of being a disgraced general, Mano is a simple man who has been raised in combat in his African home. He doesn’t seem to know his family as he was found as a child but we know he has a past. Both heroes in the film lose their wives at the beginning which results in a need for revenge inside them. Maximus knows the Emperor personally and his family were targeted as a warning to him but Mano’s wife was killed as part of a larger battle by the General and Mano seeks revenge on him.
When Mano reaches Rome, we see that there are now twin emperors who are even more unhinged than Commodus from the first film. We also learn that Lucilla, the sister of Commodus is still alive and in the inner circle. She is now married to General Acacius and has managed to protect herself. Her son is also absent. Mano has the skills in the arena like Maximus but the villains of the film are not as obvious as in the first Gladiator.
At first, Macrinus who runs the out-of-town arena is on the side of the Gladiators and the enemy is General Acacius and the Emperors. This evolves when we learn of Lucilla and the senate’s plot to overthrow the Emperors and bring power back to the people of Rome. We think that Macrinus is part of this plot but it turns out he has a plot of his own to eliminate General Acacius and turn the Emperors on each other. He backs Emperor Caracalla who has become mentally unstable and knows he can control the armies through him.
The visual effects and arena battles are more intense in the second Gladiator film and I thought that they were more interesting. There were opportunities to show Mano’s skills not just in fighting but in strategy. This is similar to how Maximus defeated his opponents. Obviously, the film has violence but I liked the fact that they were saying that violence is not always the answer and brains can outsmart brawn.
In the fight with the monkeys, Mano uses the monkey’s strength against itself, getting it to bite down on its own arm. Other fighters in the arena did not think of this strategy and tried to defeat them with brute force. Against the rhino, Mano knew that he could not defeat an animal of that size so used physics and momentum to get the rider off the rhino and challenge him to hand to hand combat. In the re-creation of the battle at sea, Mano takes charge and again uses physics and the boat’s momentum to win against the other side. It is true that the Romans used to fill the Colosseum with water but I am not sure if sharks were used.
The final fight gets personal when Macrinus takes over having killed General Acacius and knowing that Mano is the son of Lucilla, uses her as bait for him. He tries to protect her but she is soon killed by archers and Mano enacts their plan to lead the gladiators out of the arena and into the streets of Rome. They arranged for Acacius’ troops to come to Rome and Macrinus responds with his own troops.
The second film ends in a similar way to the first with a one-on-one fight between Lucius (Mano) and Macrinus. He manages to persuade the two armies not to spill blood for the sake of it. Both Emperors have been killed along with members of the Senate and Lucius claims his position as the only living heir left, vowing to make Rome for the people instead of the rich.
I enjoyed the modern touches to the second film and the broader diversity of the cast. We see women not just as pawns but as warriors and strategists. Mindless violence is not the answer with the fights in the Colosseum being less about slaughtering and more about entertainment. Even though Lucius is from the royal line, he feels like more of a commoner than Maximus having grown up that way. We saw a man of colour in power which was not shown in the first film. There was also some same sex kiss scenes that were cut but would have shown even more diversity.
The fact that both films were directed by the same man shows that attitudes can evolve over time and directors will make the film that audiences want to see and not just repeat the same story.
Happy Watching,
Robyn
