Gladiator Movies

 Ridley Scott has had such a long career that every time a film fan looks at one of his films there is a temptation to see it in context of his other work.  Scott has never been my favorite director and I am not a fan at all of one of the films he is most known for, Blade Runner, but overall I am pretty fond of many of his films, mostly due to the unique settings his characters get to play in.  Alien is a superb horror movie in space, Black Rain is well made cop thriller with an edgy performance from Michael Douglas as a NY cop chasing a criminal in Japan, Thelma and Louise may be his most successful film creatively.  Scott bravely took on Hannibal, the sequel to the Oscar winning The Silence of the Lambs, a high profile film that was destined to be far less loved than its predecessor.  Scott accepted the offer because he liked the novel and didn’t worry about anything other than making the best film he could. More recently I enjoyed The Martian and All The Money In The World.  Now age 87 Scott continues to release a high profile (and often high budget) film nearly every year.  Like his other senior directors like Spielberg and Eastwood, Scott works fast (he famously reshot 22 scenes of All the Money In The World in about a week when Christopher Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey) and unlike them sometimes his films take some narrative shortcuts.  Scott often tells historical tales but always prioritizes entertainment over accuracy.  In other words if you are looking for the true history of the use of gladiators in Ancient Rome it would be better to watch a documentary or perhaps visit the Colosseum and take a tour.  But if you want to see a couple of exciting films that are inspired by events that occurred in Ancient Rome and includes some real life historical figures, you probably won’t be disappointed.

Spoilers for both Gladiator films below

 Gladiator (2000)

I went to see this on opening night in 2000 and I liked it but thought it was a little overrated.  At the time I saw it as a Roman themed Braveheart.  In both films a brilliant military hero loses his wife and gets his revenge against a cruel ruler, freeing his people, but at the cost of his own life,  In death he rejoins his wife.  Both films starred men raised in Australia who in addition to being strong actors had enormous star quality.  The difference was I cheered when Braveheart won Best Picture and I was disappointed that Gladiator did as I felt Traffic was a far better film.  I also felt Russell Crowe won his Best Actor Oscar for the wrong film as his work in The Insider the previous year was more complex. The following year he gave an even better one in A Beautiful Mind.  I had liked the dramatic scenes in Gladiator and the story but felt the battle scenes were a little over-cranked and sloppily edited. 

Audiences disagreed with me as Gladiator has remained a cultural touchpoint over the past quarter century and left a footprint in much the way Braveheart did.  I rewatched Gladiator for the first time since 2000 to prep myself for the sequel and really enjoyed it this time.  Although it struck me as a little odd that the top general in the Roman army would be a Spaniard, the opening battle scene has the necessary scope to establish both the setting and Maximus’ skills in combat,  The light tone before the battle is a little inappropriate since I would expect, despite the great Roman success, the soldiers to be more tense given the ferocity of the struggle.  I did see a few sped up moments that also felt unnecessary given how much work clearly went into the staging but Scott has always been a little experimental and perhaps was taking tips from his (now late) brother Tony, who also would use different exposures and speeds in some of his sequences (though Tony Scott never directed anything on this scale).

Richard Harris looks frail as Emperor Marcus Aurelius who now wants Rome to be a Republic and his scenes drive the rest of the first act of the film as he wants Maximus to abandon his wish to go home to take his place.   There is an interesting subtext where Maximus has become a favored son to Marcus Aurelius which only fuels the scheming nature of his actual son, Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix. 

Commodus’ patricide, while a little predictable, is a sad scene as Commodus genuinely feels rejected and takes advantage of his father’s pity on him.  The following scene is an example of a narrative shortcut.  Commodus, wary of  Maximus’s bond with his now late father, asks for Maximus’ loyalty and Maximus refuses, having figured out that Commodus killed Marcus Auerilius, which leads to his arrest and seals his family’s fate.  A general as smart as Maximus would have known better than to openly challenge the new Emperor.  It makes far more sense that he would quietly build support among his other loyal military leaders and overthrow Commodus once a resistance was organized.  

Maximus’ escape from his execution is so unique I did not quite get it at first.  The executioner puts Maximus on his knees with the intent on beheading him.  As Maximus convinces the executioner to stand behind him and it sets him up for Maximus to quickly stand up and head butt him before he can stick the blade in.  The following sequence is fun as Maximus takes out four men once he gets ahold of weapons by showing off his various fighting skills (throwing daggers, beating a horseback charge) but is wounded which gradually weakens him as he makes the 1600 mile journey to Western Spain from near modern day Vienna.  Normally a person undertaking that kind of voyage would prep for a few days but Maximus sets right off, hoping to beat Commodus’ army and save his family.

I question why Commodus would even bother to send troops after Maximus’ family.   They are far away, are a woman and a young boy who could be given any story about Maximus’ fate.  We never even see Commodus order their deaths as Maximus learns their intended fate from Quintus.  But it does increase the tension in that portion of the film.

Scott and editor Pierre Scalia now have the task of showing Maximus traveling a long distance but need to keep the pace up.  We see a couple of quick scenes of him riding, camping, and performing minor treatment on his sword wound.  There is urgency as the troops arrive at his vast estate and Maximus seems to hear them from miles away.and rushes down the same path some unspecified time later (I took it as several hours later in the same day) and finds his family burned and crucified.  It is clear from the way Maximus was leaning on his horse he would have had no chance of defeating all those soldiers.  His best bet would have been to get there first and get his family away.

The most unbelievable portion of the plot happens here.  Maximus collapses after burying his family and while unconcious is kidnapped by slave traders who are only partially shown.  Did slave traders prowl estates looking for fit men (and by pure luck stumble onto a disgraced former Roman General)?  We are shown through changing cinematography as Maximus is moved to the dessert and ends up in Morocco where he  is sold to Proximo, played by Oliver Reed. 

Oliver Reed spooked me as the nasty Bill Sykes in the film Oliver!.  However when I saw him here Proximo is so poised that I did not make the connection though he did look a little familiar.  Proximo here takes on the mentor role to Maximus and encourages him to fight for his freedom, even dying to protect him, which is pretty selfless as he stands to gain more financially from keeping Maximus in his stead.  Maximus and the other slaves are successful enough (following Maximus training in which they fight together against whatever is thrown at them) that they earn their way to fight in the Collosseum.  Conveniently Commodus, aware of his father’s popularity (largely because he was willing to turn Rome into a Republic) has ordered 150 days of games, to honor his father.  This sets Maximus on a collision  course to reencounter Commodus. 

 Maximus’ treatment as a slave is a little inconsistent.  Sometimes he walks around free but other times he is chained to a wall, especially when in Rome. When Maximus starts to fight his natural honor earns the respect of both the other soldiers and the crowd.  Maximus, who after the first act, projecting his identity, often speaks as little as possible but Crowe with his body language and vivid eyes, always draws the audience attention.  Crowe performed a similar trick with the quiet but violent Bud White in L.A. Confidential though these two characters are very different (Maximus is much smarter than Bud).

Phoenix often plays characters who are a little tortured and have a lot of self loathing (Joker, Two Lovers, The Master) makes Commodus more complex than he might appear on the page.  In Phoenix’  hands Commodus is a paranoid loser who arrives late to the big battle that opens the film and has disturbing incestuous thoughts about his sister.  Phoenix makes some interesting acting choices.  He makes his voice crack when he is speaking of the pain of his father’s rejection (and Hans Zimmer’s score matches the pitch).  When he offer Maximus his hand he does so in a barely even voice,  Maximus is clearly trying to avoid interacting with him much during the first act, and in doing so shows how little respect Maximus has for him.  Scott fortunately does not portray Commodus’ desires for his sister graphically onscreen (or perhaps Lucilla managed to fend him off before his death).  Commodus’s best moment is his stunned reaction when Maximus’ true identity is revealed.  Phoenix goes from being the cool uncle who is going to introduce Lucius to the gladiator to the completely stunned as the one man he feared is standing right in front of him declaring his desire for vengeance, with the crowd behind him so he cannot risk a riot.

Connie Nielsen, who had a memorable role in The Devil’s Advocate (ironically also as a woman who seduces her own brother, but with a supernatural twist) brings complexity to her role as Lucilla.  Maximus also tries to avoid her, perhaps out of guilt since he may have had an affair with her around the time he got married (Lucius is revealed to be his son in Gladiator II who is the same age as his son with his wife.  She has a strong beat when she slaps Commodus for murdering her father and then painfully has to kiss his hand, fearful for both her and her son’s safety.  In two films it is never clear why Maximus and Lucilla were together but it was probably more youthful lust than true love.  Lucilla clearly sees this as she tells Maximus to join his family in the afterlife, even though they shared a kiss shortly before.  Aurelius may not have known that Maximus had a relationship with his daughter.

The fighting scenes looked better than when I saw the film years ago.  The sped up beats stuck out a little less and while I think particularly the tiger scene could have been a lot more fluid (it is clear the filmmakers were pretty restricted as to how they could use the live creatures, there is a wide shot where they are just lying around) they are entertaining.  The final showdown between Commodus and Maximus is satisfying dramatically (since we get to see the hero kill the villain) and has a twist (Commodus secretly wounds Maximus to improve his chances, though he loses anyway).  But it is never clear why Commodus chooses to fight Maximus there other than perhaps he thinks in his twisted way it will make the crowd love him.  Overall though the fight is too abbreviated to have much impact as an action moment.

The Colloseum sometimes looks a little fake and digital effects for some of the crowd scenes are notably distinct from the use of real crowds which adds to the made up feel of the story.  Again this film pales greatly in comparison to Braveheart but it is a fun swashbuckler that deals in big themes.  ***

Gladiator II (2024)

I doubt Gladiator was made with any serious thought of a sequel or Maximus, the character on which the entire first film hung, would not have been killed off which left Scott with a real challenge when crafting the follow-up.  I spent much of the review above comparing Gladiator to Braveheart.  Two films have been made as of 2025 focusing on subsequent events following Robert the Bruce.  Outlaw King starred Chris Pine presents Robert much more like Wallace.  The other is named after the title character and stars Angus McFadden who played the role in Braveheart and is much smaller in scale.  

I did not expect Gladiator II would ever be made, nor did I care much one way or the other.  When it was announced that Scott was directing again and that the cast included Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal, I realized he going for another epic. This time Scott put his star power in the supporting roles and cast a Paul Mescal as the titular character who turns out to be Lucius, now revealed as Maximus’ son with Lucilla.  

The film was scripted by David Scarpa who also wrote All the Money in the World and Napoleon for Ridley Scott and he largely takes the framework of the first film (a superb fighter with a Roman connection loses his wife, is captured and sold into slavery, becomes a Gladiator which helps overthrow cruel Roman leaders) and sets up some slightly more complex plot threads.  Scarpa uses some historical facts and characters for his story but as with the first film the plot is largely made up.

In the story Lucius was sent away from Rome by his mother (returning Connie Nielsen) right after Maxmus’ death to protect him from Roman politicians who might plot to have him killed in the power vacuum now that Commodus was dead.  This feels a little contrived as it would have made far more sense for Lucilla to do so when Commodus was actively threatening Lucius’ life but it sets up Lucius’ return to Rome as people gradually figure out who he is.  However, what it really does is give an excuse for battle sequences which are clearly at the heart of the film.

Mescal looks like nothing like Spencer Treat Clark, who played Lucius in the first film, but he has the physique and dramatic skills if not the star power of Crowe which works because he spends a lot of the film trying to live up to his father’s name.  Lucius has settled into a North African town in Numidia and Scott opens the film with a spectacular naval to land battle which Pedro Pascal’s General Acacius leads.  The staging is much more clear than anything in the first film as the boat approaches the wall and overwhelmed Numidian fighters defend their territory fiercely but ultimately fall.  Lucius’ (known as Hanno here) wife is killed by Acacius’ soldiers in the course of the battle and Lucius is taken as a slave and sold to Macrinus (Denzel Washington) after he kills a baboon in the gladitorial contest.  Eventually Macrinus, who has big ambitions, brings Lucius and the other gladiators to Rome where he schemes to take over.  Unlike in Gladiator this time we see the hero with his wife before she is killed.

As the film got under way I enjoyed that it was a little unclear who the big villain was.  The twin emperors who rule Rome (Geta and Caracalla, as played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger) are cruel but a little one-note.  Pascal’s Acacius is part of a war he actually wants little role in and he comes across more like Maximus from the first act of Gladiator (the respected general who is driven by honor).  By casting Pascal as a warrior Scott creates a natural link to The Mandalorian or even his character in Game of Thrones who are both ruthless characters who have a code.  This leaves Macrinus who becomes a little like Richard III, scheming and killing his way into power.  I originally thought Washington was overqualified to play a functional character and so the third act reveal of him gleefully taking over from the Emperors fits.  Washington gleefully bites into every line reading and impressively is able to believably fight the much younger Mescal on even terms in the climax using Macrinus’ cunning and ferocity over Lucius’ brute strength.

The battle scenes are much better staged this time.  Scott treats us to gladiators fighting rabid baboons, and two notable scenes in the Colloseum show the gladiators against a fighter riding a rhinoceros and a naval battle where the losers will end up in shark infested waters.  As I watched these scenes I felt Scott truly enjoying the playground and trying to give the audience a good time too.  As such this is, despite the tragic theme, a more fun experience than the first film.  The naval battle is a real stretch as although apparently the Colloseum was rigged for water I doubt in those times enough could ever have been transported from the Tiber to the Colloseum (and we never see it being prepped for such).  However the sight of two ships fighting in that setting is so thrilling as an audience member I just go with it.  

Scarpa adds an additional layer as Acacius (a former soldier of Maximus) turns out to be married to Lucilla, and like Maximus just wants to stop fighting so he can be with his wife.  This means Lucius unknowingly is driven wish desire to kill his own stepfather.  This sets the stage for one of the more intriguing fights as Lucius is put in the ring with Acacius (who was arrested only trying to help Lucius) and Acacius has to fight to defend himself but try not to kill his bloodthirsty opponent.  Fittingly Lucilla and Acacius are shown to be very much in love and there is no sense that Lucilla is harboring any kind of longing for the long dead Maximus.

Macrinus’ murder of Lucilla (shortly after Lucius has reconciled with her) serves little dramatic purpose other than to set Lucius off on a revenge quest against him but the final battle is better than in the original film and Scott sets it outside the gates of Rome by the river (although the Malta location is pretty evident as the whole setting looks little like the actual Rome).  In the finale Lucius’ has convinced the armies to team up to establish a stronger Rome which I’m sure will last until Gladiator III.  However if Scott decides to do so given his age I suggest a shorter gap between films this time.  

Gladiator II tackles some big themes but its main purpose is entertainment sprinkled with history.  I had more fun watching it than the first film and believe it has better production values overall though I wasn’t particularly drawn in by the lead character which was the main strength of the first film.  Yet Gladiator II is a success and played well on the big screen. ***