The first glimpse of Gladiator II from a month ago left fans a little cold. On the one hand, it seemed like the belated sequel was recapturing the essence of the glorious original film but on the other, the presence of rap musicDenzel Washington’s historical inaccuracies and careless accent have sparked countless criticisms online. However, all of this seems to have come to nothing after the final trailer of a second part which turned out to be much more ambitious than it seemed, announcing the main link it will have with its predecessor: Lucius is the son of Maximus Decimus Meridius.
With no trace of hip-hop on its soundtrack, the latest promotional material for Gladiator II exposes its full audiovisual potential, with a Ridley Scott who seems “breast out”drawing on the epic, confirming that this is once again a story of revenge but also of a special effects display and sets that must be seen in the cinema. There is this military aggression that the reports of the shooting of a year ago spoke about or the violence that will permeate the fighting, where we can see that behind this there is one of the biggest budgets of the last decade’s cinema. Of course, the CGI still does its job and if in the first preview of the world presentation we saw the rhinoceros attacking Lucius (here it is again), the second preview gave us the appearance of some monkeys that will be one of the first obstacles in the sand
“Gladiator II” Trailer
As we already knew, Paul Mescal plays the titular warrior Lucius, the son of Lucille (Connie Nielsen) and nephew of the previous antagonist of Gladiatorthe emperor Comfortable (Joaquín Phoenix). In this film, the young man saw in Máximo a masculine figure to be respected, but the blood bond between the two was not highlighted at all. Now, apart from his overwhelming cinematic impactThe new information gave us what could have been one of the the big surprises of the film. But… Is this a tribute or rather a dishonor for the primal hero?
True, in Gladiator II it is explained that Lucius is the result of a previous relationship between Maximus and the daughter of Marcus Aurelius. Thus protecting the responsibility of the character played by Russell Crowe, who, by character and honor, had no problem cheating on his wife. However, and even taking this into account, many have surely seen in the protagonist’s inbreeding (revealed by the character of Lucilla) something quite arbitrary and why not say it, a completely useless decision.
In addition to Arena battles and fightsthe trailer of Gladiator II offers another perspective to several of the new cast members, such as Denzel Washington’s MacrinusPedro Pascal and his general Marco Acacio or the new villain, Joseph Quinn’s Emperor Caracalla. These seem to have their own personal interests, even though they all seem to protect their actions as what is most beneficial to Rome. For example, we know that Macrinus wants to use Lucius as a weapon in a much larger conflict, while Pascal seems to want to use Lucius as a weapon in a much larger conflict. a military leader repentant of some of his actions (or at least not very convinced) under the orders of Caracalla.
Will Mescal also complete his revenge in this life or in the next?
There are already discussions for “Gladiator 3”
As if the expectations for the sequel weren’t enough, Scott explained in a recent interview that he’s already working on an idea about Gladiator 3comparing the development of events in the sequel with the end of The GodfatherTo do this, he will have to fight against a theatrical exploitation which is going through a complicated period, a budget which could be heavy and some recent works with losses in the ticketing (The Last Duel And Napoleon). For now, what we know is detailed on the website. First:
“I’m already playing with the idea of Gladiator 3. No, seriously! I lit the fuse… The ending of Gladiator II is reminiscent of The Godfather, with Michael Corleone finding himself with a job he never wanted (…) So the next one will be about a man who doesn’t want to be where he is.
Gladiator II will be released in theaters next November 15th. Will it be a box office success as is being touted in the United States or will it become yet another commercial failure in Scott’s filmography?
