Gladiator II (2024)R Action/Adventure -R-
7.5/10: A tryhard but fair remake of the flawless first one. Perfect fighting and epic battles, but you'll leave expecting more. Watch Gladiator I instead, and watch this one for the epic battles only
Recommended for:
Kids-only movie night: No
Family movie night: No
Grownups movie night: Yes
Grownups only movie night: Yes
Overview:
Gladiator II borrows too much from the first, ends up a being lackluster. Lucius seems to have been cast only for having the most Roman looking face, because his character has no memorable lines or great acting scenes. The same goes for his mother Priscilla. The movie has an epic naval battle in the beginning, another in the colosseum which is awesome, then a man riding a rhino too, so that’s where the best part is. A decent movie, but nothing like the first one. The music is the most disappointing part when compared with the first.
Sex/Nudity/Pornography 4/10:
No sex scenes, but we see the emperors being emasculate, weak, and hedonistic, and it’s implied that they’re gay or bisexual. This is also the case for one of their advisors (who is also the best actor in the movie). Also, it's revealed that a character is an illegitimate son.
Violence/Gore 7/10: Moderate bloody battles, mainly in the Colosseum. A massive monkey tears someone’s throat out, and another is beheaded. Another is killed by inserting a metal rod through their ear into their head, and we see blood spray when someone else’s neck is cut open.
Drinking/Drugs/Smoking 2/10: Moderate drinking is depicted in the context of Roman social life. When a gladiator is getting stitched up, he’s told to inhale a gaseous combination of morphine and “devil’s breath” to calm the pain.
Cursing/Blasphemy 2/10: Minimal offensive language is used, with only a few instances of mild expletives such as "damn" and "hell"
Virtuous Examples 6/10: General Acacius is the best moral example in the movie. He is great at his work as general, he is morally upright, and he literally laughs in the face of the degenerate emperors when they try to lecture him on morality. Lucius, the main character, is mainly motivated by rage and revenge for his dead wife, who was killed by the troops of General Acacius, so it doesn’t have the same moral weight as in the first movie where Maximus wanted revenge from an evil emperor who pointlessly killed his wife and young son out of pride and envy.
Morality: The best moral depiction of the movie is the depiction of the Roman elite, including the emperors and their advisors, as emasculate, weak, hedonistic, suicidal, sadistic, and overall repulsive human beings. Their bisexuality and homosexuality are shown in a negative light. This is a good example for teenage boys as to what they should avoid. It exemplifies St. Thomas Aquinas’ defining that being emasculate is “when a man refuses to let go of what is pleasurable to do what is difficult”. The only way to become a good man is by fighting for what is good and doing for those you love, but this isn’t really shown in the movie except through General Acacius. Also, there’s an illegitimate son.
Quotes:
“A man does not become emperor by bloodline alone. It must be taken by force and kept by force!”
“You can never escape what you are. But you can learn to live with it.”
Final Rating: 7.5/10
Awe-inspiring Roman battles for the history buffs, with some mid acting, no real moral lesson except fight like hell and don’t be like the weak and hedonistic emperors. Good enough to watch with the teenagers, but watch the first one yet so you at least understand what a 10/10 movie is, and how far this one fell.