Gladiator II – Returning to Rome
Written by Zoe Crombie
Though it’s tough to top the period of blockbuster cinema we had in Summer 2023, Winter 2024 seems to be giving the Barbenheimer days a run for their money. With several highly anticipated epics releasing within mere weeks of each other, from Wicked for musical theatre lovers to Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim for fantasy fans, all kinds of audiences are being pulled to the cinema screen by the type of magnetism that only large-scale productions like these can generate. Chief among them in the colosseum is the latest film from king of modern epic cinema Ridley Scott: Gladiator II, a sequel nearly 25 years in the making.
Taking place sixteen years after the events of the first film, Gladiator II follows Lucius Verus Aurelius, the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus, taking revenge on the Romans who killed his family and sold him into slavery as a gladiator. Starring awards darling Paul Mescal as Lucius with a supporting cast including Pedro Pascal, Derek Jacobi, and a scene stealing Denzel Washington, it’s an ensemble to match the immense talents of the original, and with returning cinematographer John Mathieson to shoot the action, it feels as just as vigorous as the first.
Mirroring the first Gladiator in plot and star power while upping the intensity, Gladiator II is a must see for fans of the first that, like most Scott movies, has to be watched on a big screen to be truly appreciated.
Fri 29th Nov - Thu 5th Dec
