At the age of 88, Ridley Scott has certainly not gone easy on the fun. In Gladiator II, for instance, the battle involves Paul Mescal and Lucius Verus, Sir Ridley Scott, enormous Gladiators and an entire army of screeching baboons. These CGI baboons do not look barbaric but rather cuter than real monkeys approaching the army. Furthermore, Baboon versus Gladiators playtime is only the beginning of the real start that does not hold back in anyway. One of the battle scenes also involved a rampaging Rhino and even for some reason… sharks. Yes, during a re-enactment of a sea fight, a whole bunch of these merciless creatures can be seen splashing in the water which leaves you wondering “Was the Colosseum really super flooded?”.
Be it historically accurate or otherwise, shark attacks in this movie the long awaited sequel of the swords and sandals 2000 movie starring Russell Crowe is the true depiction of the barbaric times. The movie had gore in plenty: decapitating, throat slashing, and chopping off limbs of the enemy.
In one instance of violence, there is excessive, almost comical blood spewing forth when a victim barks “Tis but a scratch,” reminiscent of the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Amidst all of the violence in the film, Paul Mescal plays the role of Lucius: a robust character who literally acts as the gravitational point of the film during the scenes which are chaotic. Mescal transitions into a leading man with ease depicting the character as dignified but tenacious enough to achieve great heights and attain glory, while also being able to eat a chunk of a baboon if the situation calls for it. Mescal transitions into a leading man with ease depicting the character as dignified but tenacious enough to achieve great heights and attain glory, while also being able to eat a chunk of a baboon if the situation calls for it.
It must be noted that Mescal’s character does not possess the same luxury as his protagonist Maximus; Lucius is a gladiator who went into combat after being purchased by Marcius, a former slave who has ruthless ambitions of becoming a powerful broker in Rome, Denzel Washington. He replaces Maximus. Washington is the one who literally steals the entire thing, by the way, relishing the opportunity to portray a pompous, self-satisfied schemer with peculiar orders. Some of his line readings are pure camp.
The brilliant ensemble cast includes Connie Nielsen as the major cast member returning from the original film, Lucilla, who floats above everything in an imperious manner but subdued demeanor, and of course, Pedro Pascal who plays Marcus Acacius, the rogue Roman general responsible for the destruction of Lucius’ home and family. So as Lucius interacts with monkeys, sharks and even other human warriors, he is also given revenge against Marcus. The subsequent sequence of events and action in the movie were rather advanced, Lucius’ success went according to a pattern, however this wasn’t too important because the spectacles of action were just spectacular.
The new joint Roman Emperors, youthful twins Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) are the ones who seem to be financing all this boisterous behavior. Not only are they on the same level as Joaquin Phoenix’as Comus on the crazed end, but they have that distinct scent of the bestial emperor Caligula. Imagine John Hurt’s cadaverous stare while playing Caligula in the classic TV series of the 1970s, I, Claudius and Malcolm McDowell’s version of the same historically insane character in the 1979 movie Caligula. There’s a comic counterpart to Caligula’s famously adored pet horse as well: indeed, Caracalla’s pet capuchin monkey, which is glowered on his wrist, has what may be considered the most dramatic development of any character in the film.
And by the time Matt Lucas shows intermission in a performance football setting, sounding eloquently as the warriors congregate in the Coliseum, it is evident that this is not the kind of film they wish to feature in. There are no worries, however, due to it being such a long overdue follow up, this did not beep so too kindly on my scale. In which case it is in almost all regards as powerful and intricately composed as the first Gladiator, but this find the self-importance somewhat and a bit more self-consciously ornate than the first one managed to capture. The ostentation which is justified by the broad confidence it comes with receives applause. This is Ridley Scott Untamed, and yes, we are in the right place.
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