Taking characters and themes from historical accounts for entertainment purposes isn’t anything novel or new.
In fact, it’s been done since before words were officially written down – you know when everything was based on oral history.
Still, when it comes to more modern takes on famous or infamous characters, I’d rather watch them on the big screen than read about them.
Unfortunately, it took over 20 years to get a sequel worthy of “Gladiator” (2000) Russell Crowe’s Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius.
That being said, Colosseum battles, political intrigue, and freedom are still the main fare for “Gladiator II” and are best served in a larger-than-life format rather than waiting for the movie to stream.
Written by David Scarpa, from a story he wrote with Peter Craig, the film was directed by Ridley Scott, produced by Scott Free Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
It stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Tim McInnerny, Alexander Karim, and Yuval Gonen.
It earned every inch of its R rating for strong bloody violence and I’ll caution you to keep that in mind if you go check it out.
Also, Gladiator II is seven minutes shorter than its predecessor at 148 minutes long.
Sixteen years after Marcus Aurelius' death, Rome is ruled by the corrupt twin emperors Geta (Quinn) and Caracalla (Hechinger).
Aurelius' grandson, Lucius Verus Aurelius (Mescal) lives under the alias "Hanno" with his wife Arishat (Gonen) in Numidia.
General Acacius' (Pascal) Roman army invades and conquers the city, enslaving Lucius and killing Arishat.
To advertise the slaves as potential gladiators, the Romans pit them against feral baboons.
Lucius savagely kills a baboon, impressing the stable master Macrinus (Washington), who promises Lucius an opportunity to kill Acacius if he wins enough fights in Rome.
Acacius returns to Rome as a war hero where Geta and Caracalla arrange gladiatorial games in the Colosseum to celebrate Acacius' victory.
Disillusioned with war, Acacius requests a vacation with his wife Lucilla (Nielsen), but the emperors refuse and plot to conquer Persia and India.
Senator Thraex (McInnerny) throws a party for the emperors and arranges a gladiatorial duel as entertainment.
After Lucius wins, Geta asks where he is from which prompts Lucius to contemptuously recite Virgil's poetry, revealing his Roman education.
Ravi (Karim), the gladiator’s doctor treats Lucius' injuries after a battle with a rhinoceros-riding gladiator and befriends him.
In the Colosseum, Lucius emulates the late legendary gladiator Maximus to win fights and shows off his military skills.
Lucilla recognizes Lucius as her son, whom she sent away from Rome as a child to protect him from assassination by rivals for the throne.
During a naval battle in the Colosseum, Lucius leads his side to victory and fires a crossbow at the spectating Acacius, but fails to kill him.
After the battle, Lucilla tries to reconnect with her son but Lucius angrily rebuffs her.
He resents being forced to flee Rome while his mother lived in luxury, and is upset that her new lover caused his wife's death.
Lucius learns that Ravi was a former slave who won his freedom in the Colosseum.
Ravi shows Lucius the gladiators' shrine to Maximus, which preserves Maximus' sword and armor.
Lucilla and Acacius conspire with the senators Thraex and Gracchus (Jacobi) to overthrow the emperors and restore the Roman Republic.
But nothing is ever easy in Rome and things get worse for Lucius before they get better.
