Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, he must look to his past to find the strength to make a difference.
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Taking place sixteen years after the death of Maximus, we follow Lucius who had been living under the name of Hanno and he was very happy with his wife but when the Roman army invades the city she is killed and he is taken as a slave by General Marcus Acacius. From being taken as a slave he is forced to fight against baboons and his skills in combat lead him to being bought by Macrinus and then vows to train him as a Gladiator, this will see him return to Rome and have to come to terms with his past. The same for his mother Lucilla.
The two Emperor’s Geta and Caracalla are both horrendous in different ways, actually pathetic is probably the best way to describe them. Although annoying they aren’t actually the most dangerous people in Rome, that totally goes to Macrinus! Even with that I did cringe every single time the pair came on the screen, but I guess that was actually the point we were supposed to despise them.
Within the film we have a nice mixture of action and sub plots throughout and that does make for an engaging watch. I mean seriously it was going to work out that the man that killed his wife just happened to be with his mother, right? I mean, of course!
I went into the film with rather low expectations as I was a little bit dubious about why we were getting another Gladiator film 24 years later, but it was enjoyable and had some rather impressive performances. Paul Mescal has won me over; he was very impressive from start to finish. Connie Nielsen was excellent, but the ultimate scene-stealer, and the film stealer, was Denzel Washington. Who would have thought this type of film would work out so well? His character is such a nasty bastard, and I was really loving that.
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