The people writing this Schitt have literally no conception of what it would be like to live/grow up inside of an honor based culture where warfare is a fact of life.
That's kinda the key problem with the entire film. Her death was impersonal, there was no malice behind it, just a fairly random act that they both knew was actually highly likely before hand. Revenge is not justified, nobody would really care because, well, she made her choice and the enemy general didn't even know she existed. In the first film it was all very personal. Maximus and his family were very much deliberately targeted... This one? Bad luck and poor decision making.
Bingo! Now, if she'd been captured, and then abused by Pedro's character. Or singled out in some way, maybe cause she was a woman fighting against Rome, or some other reason and she had a particularly horrible death. That could make a good starting point for a revenge tale.
Like really , model it after Boudicca without the angry rampage against random Roman towns and it would have made sense. The Iceni was treated horribly
Spoilers ⚠️ By making Lucius the love-child of Maximus and Lucilla. It undermined everything Maximus fought for. Why would he dream of dying and being reunited with his wife and son, when he has the woman he once loved and she's raising his other son? It is utterly misguided of Ridley & Co. To think this was honouring him. Not only did Ridley do a disservice to the character of Maximus. He did himself a disservice by making a pale imitation of a masterpiece that came out almost a quarter of a century ago.
What kills me , and they did this in the movies , " Moses " , " Fall of the Roman Empire " and " Kingdom of Heaven " . When the hero has a chance to take power , and make things right , they refuse and let the bad guy take power. ? He gets the power AND THE GIRL ! Then everyone except the hero and his love interest , suffer for it ! You take power , crucify the bad guys , marry the girl and then hand the power back to the Senate and the people of Rome ? Was that hard ? Everybody's happy ! Guess what ? Happiness does not sell , pain an anguish do ? Jaw's was not about a petting tank at Marine Land for kids in wheelchairs ? It was to make you piss in your swimming gear before you even get in the ocean ? Titanic did the same thing . She dies an old lady with grandchildren and when she dies she is going to spend eternity with a one night stand from a sinking boat ? WTF ! What happened to grandpa , the guy she married and had kids with ?
They also entirely removed his legacy. Rome is worse than under Commodus (as seen by poor people begging outside the town?? I don't know what they were thinking about these scenes), the emperors are literally crazy, the senate is completely useless and bends to someone random rich guy they never met before. Senator Gracchus, Quintus (Maximus' second in command and later Commodus praetorian guard captain), Lucilla, Juba, all these characters that were influenced by Maximus' death have achieved nothing at all, according to this unworthy sequel.
"And that's clearly why there were so many women that fought on historical battlefields... Oh wait." I love the sarcasm and it shows how revisionist histories are so inept in their logic.
It's not specific to revisionist histories. It's amazing how many modern writers have zero regard for internal consistency when it comes to mechanics like this. Anyone who understands anything about tactics, or technological advancement, or warfare who takes even a glance at some of the ridiculous mechanics writers will throw out there willy-nilly these days will go: "...Wait. WHAT? They can do *what* ? And they only ever bother to do it under *which* circumstances? ...But that's an incredibly big deal, and if they're *able* to do it in that one circumstance at all, then it follows that they have the techniques and technology necessary to repeat the feat, and if *that's* the case, then they should be using the phoque out of it every time they-"
@@ephraimwinslow While not entirely the same thing, that’s why I’m currently stuck on the magic system for the fantasy idea I’m working on. I don’t want to end up with situations similar to what you’re describing, because the audience is pretty good at noticing such things.
@@John-fk2ky Easy trick? Assume the POV of an opportunistic grifter given the same toolset. IE: What would an unscrupulous person looking to make a cheap buck do? It's a very easy rule of thumb when playing with mechanics like that in a worldbuilding sense. Take... say... divination. What's the first thing you would do if you could scry (remotely observe the world from a disembodied spectator POV) IRL? ...Probably cheat at games of chance, and spy on your enemies (and people you have the hots for, let's be honest). Sooo if you're writing a world where scrying is a known phenomenon? People exchanging important information would probably have some very elaborate measures in place to keep those exchanges secret. IE: making sure that any important meeting takes place in a hidden location (where no one with the means would know to listen in) or a location proofed against scrying (with some kind of counter-mechanic) or have the meeting take place using a language no one but the participants understands, or even stage multiple versions of the same meeting with different content so that magical spies couldn't be sure which one was the real deal. (Once you're thinking like a thief? You're also necessarily thinking like a security guy. I'll just smash the window -> I'll put in windows you can't smash.)
@@John-fk2ky Assume the POV of an opportunist given the same toolset. Once you think of almost anything first and foremost as a means to make money and/or accrue influence? The TL;DR of how that mechanic would play out in broader society kinda writes itself.
Yeah almost like it's intentional. Cuz it is. They have tainted nearly every beloved franchise at this point. We used to get lord of the rings now we get rings of power which is a heinous bastardization. That's what they do. Bastardize.
“Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin good forces have invented or made” - Tolkien I’m sure it’s been quoted fifty other times in this comments section, but, seemed appropriate here.
To be more precise: That only the emperor WAS ALLOWED to wear. Wearing purple was a capital offense, because it was a symbol that you were (supposedly) aiming for the throne. If you were lucky you were exiled, if you were unlucky, well...
It's not even necessarily about the wife being vulnerable. In Gladiator, Maximus' family was singled out to be murdered by Commodus - it's personal. Commodus later makes it even more personal when he reveals that the soldiers raped his wife and tortured his son. In Gladiator 2, the wife seems to just die in battle, killed by an impersonal weapon - an arrow.
dying in battle is celebrated not a thing to be mourned. The whole revenge thing works for no one in this movie, for more money it looks like they got cheaper and uglier actors. No big muscles in this movie.
@@kh7688there is absolutely nothing wrong with a sequel. They could have made and have in the past before Ridley Scott’s film Gladiator movies. The issue with this film is it did not need to tie whatsoever to the previous film before it.
Gone are the days of Princess Bride, Who framed Roger Rabbit, 13th Warrior, Gladiator and all the truly amazing movies that told a story, made an impression and didn't get sequels that ruin the greatness they achieved by being singular
Dude, careful. There's a dark IRL truism that holds whenever someone mentions a genuine classic film untarnished by trash sequels? Somewhere out there, a streaming mogul gets a hard-on.
@@dudeonyoutube No, its theatrical release was in August 99. It just performed poorly at the box office. But it got a broader audience and appreciation when it came out on VHS. Typing this out made me feel old.
Good. "Traditional" masculinity keeps everyone else oppressed and enslaved. Let's try just being human beings instead of turning everything into suffocating social hierarchy.
"Caesar, pirates are attacking the grain ships from Egypt!" "That's not important right now, we need to send out the ships to capture more sharks for the Colosseum!"
Caligula went up and invaded Britain , his Triumph featured " Reed's and Sea Shells " from the swamps and shores ? No enemy prisoners or their weapons ? REEDS & SEA SHELLS .
@@squirrelsyrup1921 16 years later, what did you expect, Russel and Joaquin? Nah they wrote a good story about the lineage of Maximus, maybe not the same cast, but it's still the same characters
It really is. "They" just cannot help themselves : - A woman HAS to be a fookin "girlboss". - A woman HAS to fight on on the same level as a man. - Diversity & Inclusion EVERYWHERE... even in places where it makes no sense. That's why shows like The Witcher, Rings of Power and yes, even House of the Dragon, SUCK NOW.
WHAT?! The protagonist is the illegitimate son of Maximus and Commodus' sister from the first movie? Maximus' whole character was that he was a loving husband and father, who embarks on a revenge mission when they were murdered. Now, 20 years later, in the sequel, you're telling me he had a secret affair with the emperor's daughter? FFS, WHO WROTE THIS??!!
Supposedly he got her pregnant before she dumped him and then he formed his own family as per internet theories way back before this thing was green lighted.
@@s0me0ne1semakes no sense. Maximus murdered son was the same age as Lucius... And maximus was away from home for like 2 years according to the original movie. The math isn't working
@@s0me0ne1se The people behind those internet theories don't understand the characters or the acting. It was very clear that Commodus's sister was always upset that nothing ever happened between her and Maximus even though she always harbored a huge crush on him and ran off into the arms of a different man she didn't really love because of it.
@@MegaMerdeux as per biology he had relations with Lucilla, she dumped him, he immediately met his wife and got her pregnant maybe within the span of 1 month, (it’s called rebound and happens 70% of the time) how’s not mathing? One can be the same age as somebody else if they were born within the following nine months you were born; let’s say you were born Jan 1st of 2000 (your mom got pregnant during April 1999) and another kid was born Oct 1st, 2000 (their mom got pregnant during February 2001), next year during October, November and December 2001, you both were “a 1 year old child” during the whole three months. You are just full 2 years old on your next birthday on Jan 1, 2002 and the other kid is full 2 years old on October 1st, 2002. Again you’re both 2 year old kids during the following 3 months, perfectly understandable.
@@GeorgeMonet respectfully disagree. For a man to say “I knew your brother would send assassins. I didn’t think he would send his best”… let’s be real, he wouldn’t have said nothing of the sorts if they both only had a simple “crush” on each other; those words are full of pain, hurt, he felt absolutely betrayed because she in the past did something so hurtful to him he compared it to being killed by her. He’s a commander who has seen hundreds if not thousands of deaths, so you think he would compare a simple “crush” on someone to be assassinated by someone he cared about, loved and trusted so much in the past? It has always seemed to me they both knew each other maybe since their youth and when he fell for and made love with her (thus getting her pregnant), she dumped him immediately after, maybe believing he was “lower class”, and maybe Maximus was her side hidden lover while she was officially dating another (maybe richer) man; subsequently marrying him within a very short period of time (1 to even 2 months, there are children born within 7 to 8 months so she could have passed Maximus child as his husband’s) and then as we know her husband died later. He felt humiliated and betrayed because of that and somehow met his future wife in a short span of time, and got her pregnant almost immediately (because “rebound”), but his wife was a different kind of woman and because of his new family he kind of buried the pain Lucilla inflicted on him in the past.
He’s a self described feminist. Pascal is a Kamala supporter. Of course this is going to be a big liberal feminist propaganda film. No thanks, if I need a dose of liberalism, I’ll just watch CNN or the View. 🤮🤮🤮
All the OG directors are way past their prime. Coppola, Cameron, Scorsese, George Lucas, Spielberg, etc. Past a certain point, creativity declines with age. Time to retire and go fishing.
the first film was pretty rubbish and corny, i can only imagine the second one will be even worse, but 1 buck is pretty good but you should have torrented it instead. you wont get the time back beware
I was standing outside a theater looking at the poster for this movie and decided to wait for a review before seeing it because i was worried about this exact thing.
It is an iron clad rule of wokeism that any GENUINELY organic and diegetic opportunity for inclusivity MUST be ignored entirely. Because if they DID that on a regular basis (IE: making the men of the east in Rings of Power MIDDLE EASTERN rather than multicultural...)? Then there would be actual legitimate examples of what they purport to do out there for people to point to. Like: "But... this is what it looks like when you [make your cast of characters more diverse according to arbitrary modern standards] correctly. ...You did the complete opposite. What gives?"
If the people responsible for this Schitt *ever* capitalized on organic opportunities to make their cast of characters more diverse according to modern standards? That would spoil the game. The whole point of this arbitrary Overton Window shift is to make every example of this crap as tactless as possible, and then gaslight normies into thinking that that's normal/acceptable.
I swear to God they had the perfect set up from the first film. Have it follow Djimon Hounsou's character as he makes his way back to his tribe in Africa to find his wife and daughter. Go through his fight to find then save them, give them the happy ending together, have it end with Maximus welcoming Djimon's character after having passed from old age and asks him if he managed to find them(his wife and daughter) Djimon's character smiles and starts to tell him of his journey as they walk off to see Maximus's family in the distance waving
That could've worked if they used Djimon Hounsou; though I don't think his people and Commodus's people would've believed in the same afterlife. If they did actually see each other after death, it would probably scare the crap out of them...they'd realize they should've been Christians 🤣
What boggles me is... they take the genuine article... then take... 10-30 years of time... to improve on NOTHING. Not one single thing. Not the score, not the lighting, not the blocking, not the costumes -- NOTHING. The single best received elements of this movie are guaranteed to be direct callbacks to the original... OF A LESSER CALIBER THAN THE ORIGINAL. When normies try to tell me Schitt like this is "nOt ThAt BaD" that's the same moment when I classify those people as undiscerning/voiceless, and learn to stop caring what they think/say.
It's easy to improve on the lighting from the first movie. Just buy a thirty watt light bulb. How is it possible to have totally black shadows in the midday sun of Italy?
Those are the symptoms of a civilization in decline. Art is the mental product of a civilization, and it reflects the health of the civilization that produced it.
Russel crowe took a hard pass on any sequel. He said a long time ago that gladiator did not and could not have a sequel. I'm just amazed that so called talented actors keep taking these garbage roles. They are only doing it for the money.
Terrific review. Brutally honest, concise, and points out technical reasons why the psychology of the movie is flawed and why the emotional beats fall flat. Agenda driven script writing comes off as insincere.
Had to pause this to walk the dog and in coming back, I have a thought on how they could have had the wife die in battle and have it actually work: wife and child are fleeing while husband fights off attackers. In running, wife realizes that the attackers will catch up to them, orders the child to keep running, snatches up a discarded spear and holds her ground to try and give her child as much time to run as possible. It's more maternal, still has her doomed by the narrative, and makes sense because what mother wouldn't sacrifice herself to save her child?
It's a shame modern writers can't have a woman run away from a challenge, we all know women will be able to take out 100 trained soldiers with no martial combat experience what so ever.
@cantbendknee name 10, after you google it and manage to find 10 scattered across thousands of years, consider all the rest of the billions who fought were men.
@@Billy0789 I don't care, women fought in the colosseum. The film is absolutely dominated by men, the speaking roles and the action roles, women are star in such a small way yet you and your ilk are having a fit over it. That's funny to me. I pay my cinema ticket like everyone else and I want to see women portrayed in different ways in our story telling on screen. When you boil it down misogyny it is just the unwillingness to give.
@cantbendknee Well hold on now, you were talking about historical facts and feelings earlier brother. I challenged the ridiculous statement you made and now your saying it's just a movie and they can portray a woman in any way they choose so I'm a misogynist? If you knew all along that women almost never fought in ancient battles from a historical perspective then why make a statement implying otherwise.
Your problem with the ring his mother gave him that was owned by Maximus and Acasius is kinda unfounded. The army he sends the ring to was an army loyal to Acasius, who was planning a coup with said army. It's not unlikely that that Acasius would be killed while planning a coup so a messenger arriving with his ring(which could very well be recognizable as his and a symbol of his authority) is a believable way to send a message that he his in trouble and to come as reinforcements.
Thank you Shad, I was mildly interested in this just for the "historical" setting if nothing else, but forgot Pedro Putz-cal was in it. This does indeed seem like "The Force Awakens" all over again. Thank you for watching this steaming crap so I won't have to.
I must've missed something; I don't really even know who this Pedro guy is. I recognize his face, but I can't think of anything I've seen he's been in. Is he some woke douche that hates white guys?
I honestly thought when they were going to do Gladiator 2, I thought Rome would be a Republic(because that was Maximus’s wish at the end of the film). Lucius is serving as a General in the Roman Army against small rebellions, but he hasn’t truly proved himself against a true army. Maybe a Hannibal-like figure is leading a Carthaginian Army against Rome that is steamrolling the Roman Army. The Senate appoints Lucius to become The Protector of Rome due to his promise as a Commander. I thought Lucius would reflect on Maximus in the arena to seek a true warrior’s strength to ensure the survival of Rome. It isn’t so much a return to the arena, but rather how Maximus inspires a boy(who isn’t his son) to be a great man. Through rising to the occasion and by having good soldiers and officers around him, Lucius defeats this Carthaginian General. Yet, we get the original Gladiator, but without heart and stupid.
You wrote a better and more interesting movie plot in a comment in RUclips than a whole Hollywood team of writers was even able to in the span of almost 30 years. Ah-mazing.
Dracula 2000 actually came up with interesting original lore, that being Dracua was Judas Iscariot, which explains his need for blood, fear of Christianity, and allergy to silver. If they made a similar movie now, they'd try to rehabilitate Judas, like that g8y musical did.
But even with traditional roles and vulnerabilities aside, why would you enter a battle together with your spouse and risk bringing an end to your entire family? Now the wife isn't an innocent bystander cut down by evil - she's a willing combatant whose death is entirely justified. What an absolute fail
Haven't seen the movie yet but how in the hell is lucius now Maximus's son? The first movie hints that his mother and Maximus used to have feelings but it is never alluded to that lucius is Maximus's son.
They seriously used this precious pansy Pedro to be a mighty general and action hero...??!! The wonder is that they didn't just go straight for the black russian and use Tim Walz himself !!!
This is just victim hood at its finest. Hollywood does have “woke” tendencies but there’s plenty of POC villians in modern films, idk why you guys always act like they always put a white person in a villian role
@@nahkaboltsi6315 yes, are you really going to make me write out an entire list? Even the MCU has countless non white and female villains, you guys have become like 2016 SJW’s with all this baseless complaining lol…
Even if the CGI is good you see the clear difference to the first movie. Overuse of CGI is always crap. Paul Mescal is like a really bad choice as an actor for the movie.
It's excrusiating that this movie does ALL the things that I specifically hoped it would not be stupid enough to commit: - Ridiculous action: The naval battles are over-dramatic, but... sharks? Really?! And the angry monkeys? And the rhino?! It's so stupid. It's stupid brain-numbing slop. - Shallow references: The wheat field walks is unearned as it can be. Maximus' armour? Nonsensical. They're just there to make you go "Ooooh, I know that! I am smart!" - Patriarchy smashing without actually saying anything about it: We got girlbosses, we got wife dying by going to battle, Petro Pascal is a soft man in a hard man's positions, etc. If Gladiator I was about how masculinity can both abuse and inspire, leaving you with a sense of hope, then Gladiator II is about how masculinity destroys and corrupts and is pathetic and is dangerous. Society under men is a diseased worthless dump and you should root for it's death. There is no hope. Only death. Men kill. Men die. That's it. Classic modern subversion for the modern audiences. I hope it loses 100 million dollars.
This all happened because someone watched Avengers Endgame and thought that the line exchange "You took everything from me / I don't even know who you are" was the best thing they'd ever heard. My sister wanted me to go watch this movie with her, my reply was "Maximus is already dead. His story is over. Why ruin it with a sequel?"
They could have drawn from all the history of ancient Rome with gladiatorial arenas, and countless gladiators who most likely had gripping movie worthy lives; ....nope....we get Gladiator "Remastered": The Force Awakening Rehash With A Pointless Girl Boss and That-One-Black-Guy . . . 2 "Hey everyone, remember that one Gladiator movie? Don't you wanna watch it again? Durrrr..."
Dear Hollywood, Form is empty without Function. You can wrap all of your products in pretty decorations, but it can not disguise that they're hollow inside. We know the difference between artificial reproductions and genuine articles. Please stop insulting us. We once loved supporting Hollywood films. We would love to again. Remember that true art is not a servant to trends or profit. True art creates trends and profit.
A coworker of mine that was explaining how great was the movie, told me he was actually Maximus' son. Meaning Maximus, a loving father and devoted husband, is now a cheating sack of shit. Good job destroying the character of the first movie. He's cool guy, but i love picking on him (yes im an asshole). I asked him what he loved the most about the movie, and i immediately told him all his answers would be something copy pasted from the first movie. He told me he liked the "grabbing dirt before a battle" and the line "strength an honor". Holy crap, this movie sounds like 100% current day Hollywood : Copy paste previous successes but with half the quality.
Damn....I almost feel sorry for your friend who is obviously very easily pleased - if watching someone grab literal dirt was what 'floated his boat' I'm happy for him....I'd like to know what he thought of 'The Shawshank Redemption' or 'The Godfather l or ll...I'm surprised hes still around and din't spontaneously combust upon watching those epic movies!? #JustSaying!!
The original theory from years ago floating around the internet before this garbage was even green lighted was that Maximus was, as we all know, Lucilla’s partner, she got pregnant with his child and then she cheated on him or just left him for another man, maybe with a higher social or political rank than him (his actual husband later) and Maximus formed a family soon after the whole ordeal (maybe out of spite in the beginning). Absolutely agree with the rest of your comment.
@@s0me0ne1se The people who create those dumb theories are absolute brainless morons who just want everything to be tied together no matter how little sense it makes. They don't understand or care about the characters or the story.
I would bet my entire life savings that the company who created Gladiator 2 did it off the back of AI they even asked the AI if it would be a good idea to make the movie as well
Next up: Braveheart 2 - starring Idris Elba, who lost his wive, played by Selena Gomez, (who is also a decorated knight and much better than him in combat) due to the betrayal of some irrelevant scottish man.
It would have been much better if he left her behind, they lost the battle, and while caged he sees her enslaved and going to anotyher place, making the plot and motivation wanting to save her. That is a plot worth a sequel, adn would diferentiate itself positively. Also, gladiator 1 his family wasn't just killed, they were tortured and abused, Maximilian whole life was vengeace, he did not want to live, he dies happy. On the second movie what hit me the most is when he gets angry and says rome assassinated his wife, I was like, she was fighting a war, no assassination happened. I do not see him angry for anyone else.
If you really wanted the revenge plotline, set the first act of the film in Alexandria, where the couple see a play with the emperor Caracala as the guest of honour, the play being about Romulus and Remus. It alludes to the historic massacre that occurred under Caracala's orders. Hell, Caracala should have a much more significant presence throughout the film, given his historical counterpart was a ruthless authoritarian with no regard for kinslaying, incest or even breaking guest rights. Act 2 should show the main character's journey to get as close to the emperor as possible, by becoming a gladiator. Have him training under an ex-slave from Germania who can provide insight into the living situations of the germans compared to the romans, highlighting the difference in standard of living, and establishing why the germans (and other similar communities), are interested in seizing Rome or adopting some of the Roman lifestyle. All while Caracala strengthens the Roman army at the cost of the people and the praetorian guard in preparation for his future campaign in the East. This will all take place over a few years, enough to train the main character in combat. Act 3 will naturally, be a gladiatorial contest by the praetorian guard and the emperor to keep the bodyguards satisfied and to acquire noteworthy recruits from sponsored patricians. The main character will be victorious and will join the emperor on campaign as a bodyguard. We use this opportunity to humanise Caracala, show that he is suicidal and melancholic, have Geta's ( Caracala's brother) death be ambiguous in who was involved, and have him be a decent father(ly) figure to his sisters's sons. Have the main character question his drive for revenge, and when the opportunity arises, deny him his revenge. Caracala dies by order of the praetorian prefect, and with his main drive stolen by a political animal, and with said political animal marching to become emperor, the main character leaves to find a new reason to live. Not that much different from the original Gladiator, and such a film might have glaring pacing issues and certainly won't be as spectacular, but it could be a better sequel than what we currently have. Then again, I'm not a film maker, so my opinion means bloody nothing, especially to "qualified" film makers.
There is no way they were abused to. There simply was not enough time between when the first group set off and when Maximus's group set off for them to have done so. Especially considering that Maximus was motivated to ride his horses to death to reach the farm in time whereas the first group were just following orders without any specific time constraints. They had no reason to rush. Frankly I don't think they could have even arrived BEFORE Maximus because of this difference in motivation. Realistically Maximus absolutely arrived first and saved his family.
One of the most unnecessary sequels ever made. I was never gonna watch it, but I'm sure there'll be normies that will be convinced it's good, like Alien Romulus.
The Main actor looks like they casted a Jake Paul style RUclipsr for the main in this movie. He has that look. If they're too dumb to come up with their own good story, instead of just copying the first movie, why not do the obvious and tell the story of Spartacus? That's at least a bit different, fits the name of the moive and has a tragic ending.
Thank you. . . Literally, my thoughts every time he's on screen, I kept thinking who does he look like that made me really dislike his character, despite not knowing why. Jake fucking Paul.
Nailed it. The only reason this movie was made was to undermine the first one. Also, "We wuz Roman emperors"... Didn't see it. Not gonna see it. Hard pass.
I didn't see the new Matrix movie. I didn't see the new Star Wars movies. I'm not seeing Gladiator 2. I just play the original one that I know and love. Save your money, save your time.
Interesting analysis... Furthermore, it should be noted that the story never explains why or how the protagonist has any martial (naval!) or combat skills... As far as we can see, he was simply part of a civilian militia defending a small town somewhere on the coast of North Africa...
People joked about Gladiator 2 to mock Hollywood's desperate reliance on sequels. I like to think an AI spied on all such mockery, took it as a recommendation and spat it at a boardroom that rolled with it.
I still remember when that little boy got trampled by the horses as like he was nothing and the mother's face turned from curious to horror. So brutal and hits the heart real bad.
Also, the villain in "Gladiator" is shown to be the opposite of Maximus in the times when he threatens and takes whatever he wants from his sister and her son, instead of protecting them.
You know what would have been cool? A cinematic story about Flamma. Think about it; a story about the rise of a legendary gladiator, any thought of escape is gone once the enjoyment of the fighting takes hold. A show almost showing the corruption of the crowd. It could end like the real man; him training the next generations of gladiator, or we can make it more heartbreaking as he himself starts to enslave his own people to fuel the very thing he once despised.
There's only one Gladiator movie! Sparticus is cool too;) Gladiator can touch your emotions especially at the end when she says"who will help me carry him"...I've carried a few loved ones in my life & that line is very profound.Can Gladiator 2 do that,I think not!
I really really wanted somebody to break this movie down. The entire premise of this movie is Roman provinces are starving so what do they do they rebel like the British Lords did when the magna Carta was signed. In Rome has to fight each province because they don't want to feed them. Then Denzel Washington's character saves the day by overthrowing the emperor and becoming emperor of Rome. This is just from the trailers this isn't the movie. Lucius story is probably a minor role. Basically I think this is how gladiator 2 was pitched to Ridley Scott. Instead of magna Carta era we do it in ancient Rome. That's the entire feel I get from this movie.
I agree with the presenter. The death of a soldier in battle, no matter if it is a man or a woman, does not need to be avenged. At the start of the war in Ukraine, the women & children were sent west, away from the invading army. Some women stayed to fight but no one has felt it necessary to avenge the death f female soldiers in modern times. I am a older woman and I agree that men defend women in times of danger.
even she's capable of fighting but, she should've been more on defending her family not in the battlefield. she's is not a an official soldier in that era.
The problem I have with this film is the character motivations. They largely don't make sense. For example, a true warrior that has a warrior wife would be fine with the wife dying in combat. Such is war. If that's what they were depicting. This warrior wife is in a battle. It's fair game anyway you die. Gladiator showed innocent people being murdered which is what break's Maximus and he nearly dies. Completely justiable and makes sense. 2nd example, how the f did this Hanno/Lucius character gain the respect of his peers? He doesn't do anything to gain a following. Gladiator 1 on the other hand shows us Maximu's leadership and prowess in battle. He exudes a personal charisma and leadership skills particularly saving the German in the battle of Zama fight. Another example. Hanno goes from not even admitting he's Lucius and shouting at this mother to the next scene, to hugging and crying. There must be scenes because that kind of emotional leap from cold to warmth without any scenes to justify it just ruins this movie. Sure, the movie looked good apart from CGI monkeys and fucking sharks in the arena, but characters made no sense and you couldn't understand their motivations. Macrinus, the most interesting character, I don't know why he wants what he wants. In the original, with a few lines, I understood where each character stood even side characters like Senator Gracchus. Yea, it was disappointing but not as bad as I thought it would be. 6/10 for me.
Ridley deciding to shoot 'Gladiator 2' on a digital camera for the sake of convenience makes it look like a Netflix streaming movie with that actors-doing-cosplay look compared to the gorgeous cinematic visual quality of kodak and eastman 35mm used for the first one where it actually looks like a professional studio movie from the big 5. The other letdown is that you don't really end up caring about any of the characters so you're not that emotionally engaged in the story unfortunately. Crowe actually looks like a regal war veteran / Roman general rather than a guy you would see down at your local gym and his performance manages to provoke you emotionally. The first 2 minute entrance alone into the colosseum before Maximus instructs the gladiators to all stick together just for sheer thrill-factor, soundtrack, tension building, visual quality..etc is far better than the entirety of Gladiator 2 (5.5). Ridley is great when he has a good script to work with (The Last Duel / The Martian) but his directorial style can't elevate a lacklustre script in the same way that someone like Spielberg can.
Agree with your entire comment except for the last sentence, let’s not fool ourselves, Ready Player One was absolute puppy doo-doo, nobody even brings it up into regular movie convos since the year after it was released and it’s never ever mentioned by anyone. His recent ones haven’t been quite good either.
@@s0me0ne1se Yeah that's a fair point as I definitely wasn't a fan of 'Ready Player One' either but I do think it was better than what Ridley would have done with the same script (seemed like too much of a committee made movie to allow either of their styles to come through tbh) and conversely for 'Gladiator 2,' I would have been really interested in an alternate timeline to see what Spielberg would have done with a page-for-page replica to bring to the screen. I find that for emotionally driven scenes, Spielberg tends to be more successful and at least we know he would have shot it on Panavision super 35 to reach the same visual quality of the first one. It would never become an 8 or 9 with that level of script but possibly a 6.5 / 7 under Spielberg if he also had a say on the casting and used John Williams to create a more memorable score for example.
I wish we got a sequel staring Juba, the black guy, as he lead the other gladiators into the wider world. Thats the only sequel that makes sense from the ending of the first movie.
The whole retcon with Lucius now being the son of Maximus CHEAPENS Maximus' arc as an honorable man. Yes, he had something with Lucilla in the past but that was iirc before she and he got married to other people, and when they reconnected after years he marvelled at how both of their sons were around the same age. To overcome the loss of his wife and son, and to show this kindness to the son of his old female friend just makes him even greater of a character. You do not NEED to be blood-related to a person to impress such kindness, admirability and drive for strength and honor onto them. This retcon literally bothered me throughout the movie.
Nick Cave did a draft of a sequel script that saw Maximus going into the underworld and battling mythological creatures. Now that is something I would have liked to have seen.
This goes for any true classic or Great Films, You don’t dishonor or disrespect a great movies/Cartoons by making a sequel or Remaking it…Disney is doing a fantastic job at destroying all the classics
If true, I’m not surprised, the majority of Hollywood movies are flops, nothing new. What is surprising is that people keep paying to see them. I no longer pay to see movies. If I do bother watching, it’s for free.
Are you not entertained?
No. Not _this_ time.
*slow clap*
@@Gguy061🤣🤣🤣👍
i liked the movie❤
I was, a lot
I see what you did there
Even if she did belong on the battlefield, why is "vengeance" such an important plot point? She was a valid military target. Maximus' family was not.
The people writing this Schitt have literally no conception of what it would be like to live/grow up inside of an honor based culture where warfare is a fact of life.
That's kinda the key problem with the entire film. Her death was impersonal, there was no malice behind it, just a fairly random act that they both knew was actually highly likely before hand. Revenge is not justified, nobody would really care because, well, she made her choice and the enemy general didn't even know she existed.
In the first film it was all very personal. Maximus and his family were very much deliberately targeted... This one? Bad luck and poor decision making.
Bingo!
Now, if she'd been captured, and then abused by Pedro's character. Or singled out in some way, maybe cause she was a woman fighting against Rome, or some other reason and she had a particularly horrible death. That could make a good starting point for a revenge tale.
Like really , model it after Boudicca without the angry rampage against random Roman towns and it would have made sense. The Iceni was treated horribly
Because she was raised in a middle class family
No one wanted this. The original movie was perfectly fine as a standing on its own.
We all know that the activists want it.
supose this will be one of those movies that will be remembered as never having existed
Same deal with the Joker huh
same with pacific rim
@@mandalorianroby2542 Love that movie. Sometimes, some movies are better of as standalone
Spoilers ⚠️
By making Lucius the love-child of Maximus and Lucilla. It undermined everything Maximus fought for. Why would he dream of dying and being reunited with his wife and son, when he has the woman he once loved and she's raising his other son?
It is utterly misguided of Ridley & Co. To think this was honouring him. Not only did Ridley do a disservice to the character of Maximus. He did himself a disservice by making a pale imitation of a masterpiece that came out almost a quarter of a century ago.
What kills me , and they did this in the movies , " Moses " , " Fall of the Roman Empire " and " Kingdom of Heaven " . When the hero has a chance to take power , and make things right , they refuse and let the bad guy take power. ? He gets the power AND THE GIRL ! Then everyone except the hero and his love interest , suffer for it ! You take power , crucify the bad guys , marry the girl and then hand the power back to the Senate and the people of Rome ? Was that hard ? Everybody's happy ! Guess what ? Happiness does not sell , pain an anguish do ? Jaw's was not about a petting tank at Marine Land for kids in wheelchairs ? It was to make you piss in your swimming gear before you even get in the ocean ? Titanic did the same thing . She dies an old lady with grandchildren and when she dies she is going to spend eternity with a one night stand from a sinking boat ? WTF ! What happened to grandpa , the guy she married and had kids with ?
They also entirely removed his legacy. Rome is worse than under Commodus (as seen by poor people begging outside the town?? I don't know what they were thinking about these scenes), the emperors are literally crazy, the senate is completely useless and bends to someone random rich guy they never met before. Senator Gracchus, Quintus (Maximus' second in command and later Commodus praetorian guard captain), Lucilla, Juba, all these characters that were influenced by Maximus' death have achieved nothing at all, according to this unworthy sequel.
"And that's clearly why there were so many women that fought on historical battlefields... Oh wait." I love the sarcasm and it shows how revisionist histories are so inept in their logic.
It's not specific to revisionist histories. It's amazing how many modern writers have zero regard for internal consistency when it comes to mechanics like this.
Anyone who understands anything about tactics, or technological advancement, or warfare who takes even a glance at some of the ridiculous mechanics writers will throw out there willy-nilly these days will go:
"...Wait. WHAT? They can do *what* ? And they only ever bother to do it under *which* circumstances? ...But that's an incredibly big deal, and if they're *able* to do it in that one circumstance at all, then it follows that they have the techniques and technology necessary to repeat the feat, and if *that's* the case, then they should be using the phoque out of it every time they-"
@@ephraimwinslow
While not entirely the same thing, that’s why I’m currently stuck on the magic system for the fantasy idea I’m working on. I don’t want to end up with situations similar to what you’re describing, because the audience is pretty good at noticing such things.
@@John-fk2ky Easy trick? Assume the POV of an opportunistic grifter given the same toolset.
IE: What would an unscrupulous person looking to make a cheap buck do?
It's a very easy rule of thumb when playing with mechanics like that in a worldbuilding sense.
Take... say... divination.
What's the first thing you would do if you could scry (remotely observe the world from a disembodied spectator POV) IRL? ...Probably cheat at games of chance, and spy on your enemies (and people you have the hots for, let's be honest).
Sooo if you're writing a world where scrying is a known phenomenon? People exchanging important information would probably have some very elaborate measures in place to keep those exchanges secret.
IE: making sure that any important meeting takes place in a hidden location (where no one with the means would know to listen in) or a location proofed against scrying (with some kind of counter-mechanic) or
have the meeting take place using a language no one but the participants understands, or even stage multiple versions of the same meeting with different content so that magical spies couldn't be sure which one was the real deal.
(Once you're thinking like a thief? You're also necessarily thinking like a security guy. I'll just smash the window -> I'll put in windows you can't smash.)
@@John-fk2ky
Assume the POV of an opportunist given the same toolset.
Once you think of almost anything first and foremost as a means to make money and/or accrue influence? The TL;DR of how that mechanic would play out in broader society kinda writes itself.
@@RoaADDW There were a lot actually if we count across the entire history. Of course, less than 1% in relation to men.
The disrespect of the original's quality storytelling is precisely why I never considered going to see it. Thanks for the confirmation, Shad!
Just like Kingdom of the Crystal Skull disrespects the quality of the original 3 movies (trilogy) of Indiana Jones
It’s a different film of course it won’t be the same.
Actually, it's a decent movie.
Recommend to see it it really good there are different but in good way
If you want to make a movie or show to try and kill masculinity, Pedro Pasquel is turning out to be the PERFECT casting choice.
Sad.
I want people to start gifting him dildoes IRL. Just so he understands what he represents outside of the LA bubble.
People need to start gifting him S&M toys IRL. Just so he finally understands what he represents outside of the LA bubble.
Yeah almost like it's intentional. Cuz it is. They have tainted nearly every beloved franchise at this point. We used to get lord of the rings now we get rings of power which is a heinous bastardization. That's what they do. Bastardize.
“Evil cannot create anything new, they can only corrupt and ruin good forces have invented or made” - Tolkien
I’m sure it’s been quoted fifty other times in this comments section, but, seemed appropriate here.
He counts as Hispanic minority but he passes as white with the audience... That's why he is so "popular" 😂
the woman wearing a purple cloth which is one of the most expensive things in the world at that time that only the emperor could wear
To be more precise: That only the emperor WAS ALLOWED to wear.
Wearing purple was a capital offense, because it was a symbol that you were (supposedly) aiming for the throne.
If you were lucky you were exiled, if you were unlucky, well...
@@wedgeantilles8575 but to be fair there are reports of artists such as famous theater artists or musicians who wore purple too
@@Nyo_Fight That is possible, the stage is after all some kind of special environment.
Thank you for the additonal info and clarification :)
I think Consuls and governors could wear purple trim when acting on behalf of the Emperor.
@@wedgeantilles8575 Get over yourself...Besides, you have over 80 comments on this channel. Just saying.
So, another Napoleon.
Napoleon was so bad. The entire Egypt invasion was less than 3 minutes of screen time. And they shot the pyramids just to add insult to injury.
Ridley Scott needs to retire. the guy lost his sense for plot and storytelling in general
Ridley Scott needs Testosterone Replacement Therapy ASAP
😂@@davidknight2104
He's corrupted by the woke mind virus
It's not even necessarily about the wife being vulnerable. In Gladiator, Maximus' family was singled out to be murdered by Commodus - it's personal. Commodus later makes it even more personal when he reveals that the soldiers raped his wife and tortured his son. In Gladiator 2, the wife seems to just die in battle, killed by an impersonal weapon - an arrow.
It’s a different film. Different plot
dying in battle is celebrated not a thing to be mourned. The whole revenge thing works for no one in this movie, for more money it looks like they got cheaper and uglier actors. No big muscles in this movie.
@@boshirahmed You would have preferred if Paul Mescal rubbed some baby oil on?
@@cantbendkneesounds like you're projecting
"I'm shocked, shocked!!!
Well, not that shocked... "
fry
@@user-tv4lz5ie5u Why does this sequel exist? It vexes me, I'm terribly vexed.
@@kh7688there is absolutely nothing wrong with a sequel. They could have made and have in the past before Ridley Scott’s film Gladiator movies. The issue with this film is it did not need to tie whatsoever to the previous film before it.
Gone are the days of Princess Bride, Who framed Roger Rabbit, 13th Warrior, Gladiator and all the truly amazing movies that told a story, made an impression and didn't get sequels that ruin the greatness they achieved by being singular
Dude, careful.
There's a dark IRL truism that holds whenever someone mentions a genuine classic film untarnished by trash sequels?
Somewhere out there, a streaming mogul gets a hard-on.
@@ephraimwinslow Can't blame the moguls. The stupids in our society pay to see these things. So they make more of it.
13th Warrior?
Are you referring to the B-movie with Banderas? Wasn't that a straight to VHS film?
@@dudeonyoutube No, its theatrical release was in August 99. It just performed poorly at the box office. But it got a broader audience and appreciation when it came out on VHS. Typing this out made me feel old.
Yeah, it's like _Highlander_ : a little bit of me regrets that cool film never got a sequel. ... No, it didn't. Are we clear on that?
I expect nothing and i'm still let down
Hahaha.
lol I am very familiar with this feeling.
Exactlyyyy🤣
That’s a big Twinkie.
I mean …
That’s pretty bad.
Yeah. Walked into the theater with low expectations. Opening scene kicked me in the face. The rest of the movie took a dump on my corpse
At this point, Mel Gibson is the only person keeping traditional masculinity alive in Hollywood.
Good. "Traditional" masculinity keeps everyone else oppressed and enslaved. Let's try just being human beings instead of turning everything into suffocating social hierarchy.
@laurawestenra Typical illogical and emotionally driven response you would expect from a woman. The very nature of masculinity is to be human.
@laurawestenra Typical illogical and emotionally driven response you would expect from a woman. The very nature of masculinity is to be human.
@@laurawestenra Typical illogical and emotionally driven response one would expect from a woman. The very nature of masculinity is to be human.
@laurawestenra Typical illogical and emotionally driven response. The very nature of masculinity is to be human.
"Caesar, pirates are attacking the grain ships from Egypt!"
"That's not important right now, we need to send out the ships to capture more sharks for the Colosseum!"
Again historically accurate
😂😂😂😂😂
Caligula went up and invaded Britain , his Triumph featured " Reed's and Sea Shells " from the swamps and shores ? No enemy prisoners or their weapons ? REEDS & SEA SHELLS .
A big part of the film are how ridiculous and incompetent the emperors are. So yes, they’d ignore major issues just to do so, as the film points out.
@@SMT-k6h the two emperors are babyfaces, childhood, nurds
I remember when they announced the sequel and was like “Nope. Gladiator was the perfect film (historical inaccuracies aside). No sequel was needed.”
I thought it was a joke when I first heard of it. Like, how do you do a sequel ? Maximus is dead!
Shoot I still feel like this is a joke.
The best sequels in cinema history were also not needed, but they were made either way
They also featured the same protagonists.
@@squirrelsyrup1921 16 years later, what did you expect, Russel and Joaquin? Nah they wrote a good story about the lineage of Maximus, maybe not the same cast, but it's still the same characters
I listened to commentary on here the other day, very interesting, ridley explains a few of his decisions
Art is truly dead.
It really is. "They" just cannot help themselves :
- A woman HAS to be a fookin "girlboss".
- A woman HAS to fight on on the same level as a man.
- Diversity & Inclusion EVERYWHERE... even in places where it makes no sense.
That's why shows like The Witcher, Rings of Power and yes, even House of the Dragon, SUCK NOW.
Art isn't dead, corporate art is dead.
Nah, it's just the bad art gets all the money and marketing. Something about rich people using it for tax shelters, or something.
@@Factboy12 And in this one, a Roman general thanks all the men and women warriors of Rome in a speech. smh
No he comeback in Terrifier 4.
WHAT?!
The protagonist is the illegitimate son of Maximus and Commodus' sister from the first movie? Maximus' whole character was that he was a loving husband and father, who embarks on a revenge mission when they were murdered. Now, 20 years later, in the sequel, you're telling me he had a secret affair with the emperor's daughter? FFS, WHO WROTE THIS??!!
Supposedly he got her pregnant before she dumped him and then he formed his own family as per internet theories way back before this thing was green lighted.
@@s0me0ne1semakes no sense. Maximus murdered son was the same age as Lucius... And maximus was away from home for like 2 years according to the original movie. The math isn't working
@@s0me0ne1se The people behind those internet theories don't understand the characters or the acting. It was very clear that Commodus's sister was always upset that nothing ever happened between her and Maximus even though she always harbored a huge crush on him and ran off into the arms of a different man she didn't really love because of it.
@@MegaMerdeux as per biology he had relations with Lucilla, she dumped him, he immediately met his wife and got her pregnant maybe within the span of 1 month, (it’s called rebound and happens 70% of the time) how’s not mathing? One can be the same age as somebody else if they were born within the following nine months you were born; let’s say you were born Jan 1st of 2000 (your mom got pregnant during April 1999) and another kid was born Oct 1st, 2000 (their mom got pregnant during February 2001), next year during October, November and December 2001, you both were “a 1 year old child” during the whole three months. You are just full 2 years old on your next birthday on Jan 1, 2002 and the other kid is full 2 years old on October 1st, 2002. Again you’re both 2 year old kids during the following 3 months, perfectly understandable.
@@GeorgeMonet respectfully disagree.
For a man to say “I knew your brother would send assassins. I didn’t think he would send his best”… let’s be real, he wouldn’t have said nothing of the sorts if they both only had a simple “crush” on each other; those words are full of pain, hurt, he felt absolutely betrayed because she in the past did something so hurtful to him he compared it to being killed by her.
He’s a commander who has seen hundreds if not thousands of deaths, so you think he would compare a simple “crush” on someone to be assassinated by someone he cared about, loved and trusted so much in the past?
It has always seemed to me they both knew each other maybe since their youth and when he fell for and made love with her (thus getting her pregnant), she dumped him immediately after, maybe believing he was “lower class”, and maybe Maximus was her side hidden lover while she was officially dating another (maybe richer) man; subsequently marrying him within a very short period of time (1 to even 2 months, there are children born within 7 to 8 months so she could have passed Maximus child as his husband’s) and then as we know her husband died later.
He felt humiliated and betrayed
because of that and somehow met his future wife in a short span of time, and got her pregnant almost immediately (because “rebound”), but his wife was a different kind of woman and because of his new family he kind of buried the pain Lucilla inflicted on him in the past.
We all knew this movie would be crap.
Yeah but I didn't think it would be this crap 😂
Then why did you go see it?
Ruining things is Ridley Scott's entire career now.
Like Jim Cameron
I knew it was going to be bad after seeing Napoleon
I thought it couldn't get worse after Robin Hood.
He’s a self described feminist. Pascal is a Kamala supporter. Of course this is going to be a big liberal feminist propaganda film. No thanks, if I need a dose of liberalism, I’ll just watch CNN or the View. 🤮🤮🤮
All the OG directors are way past their prime. Coppola, Cameron, Scorsese, George Lucas, Spielberg, etc. Past a certain point, creativity declines with age. Time to retire and go fishing.
To think I got Gladiator 1 double DVD for 1 buck. I'm gonna go watch that movie again, instead of this cheap "modern audience" copy :D
Gladiator 1 is a great movie
the first film was pretty rubbish and corny, i can only imagine the second one will be even worse, but 1 buck is pretty good but you should have torrented it instead. you wont get the time back beware
What's funny is that Denzel played Denzel in this movie 😂😂😂
Glad-He-Ate-Her Too
Sounds like a poem Hannibal Lector would write 😅
Ah, yes, the XXX remake that somehow has better costumes, plot, and dialog than most modern movies.
Giggity
❤@@beowulfsrevenge4369 also better acting and is more engaging for the audience.
This post is the most interesting thing I’ve seen associated with this film
Gladiator 2 : Folie A Duex
rofl.
🤦🏽♂️😆
This movie is full of the worst DEI tropes imaginable.
I was standing outside a theater looking at the poster for this movie and decided to wait for a review before seeing it because i was worried about this exact thing.
Such is the way of Ridley now
DEI? Please speak English.
@@trompell0stop talking.
what is google?
In the 90's, this movie goes straight to Video.
dissapointed they dont have historically fat or even obese gladiators in this show.
Oh come on , Pedro Pascal looked a bit chubby and out of shape 😂
It is an iron clad rule of wokeism that any GENUINELY organic and diegetic opportunity for inclusivity MUST be ignored entirely. Because if they DID that on a regular basis (IE: making the men of the east in Rings of Power MIDDLE EASTERN rather than multicultural...)? Then there would be actual legitimate examples of what they purport to do out there for people to point to. Like:
"But... this is what it looks like when you [make your cast of characters more diverse according to arbitrary modern standards] correctly. ...You did the complete opposite. What gives?"
If the people responsible for this Schitt *ever* capitalized on organic opportunities to make their cast of characters more diverse according to modern standards? That would spoil the game.
The whole point of this arbitrary Overton Window shift is to make every example of this crap as tactless as possible, and then gaslight normies into thinking that that's normal/acceptable.
@@ephraimwinslowbeautifully put you renew my faith in humanity. Not all of us are domesticated morons.
I swear to God they had the perfect set up from the first film. Have it follow Djimon Hounsou's character as he makes his way back to his tribe in Africa to find his wife and daughter. Go through his fight to find then save them, give them the happy ending together, have it end with Maximus welcoming Djimon's character after having passed from old age and asks him if he managed to find them(his wife and daughter) Djimon's character smiles and starts to tell him of his journey as they walk off to see Maximus's family in the distance waving
That could've worked if they used Djimon Hounsou; though I don't think his people and Commodus's people would've believed in the same afterlife. If they did actually see each other after death, it would probably scare the crap out of them...they'd realize they should've been Christians 🤣
Try not to say that, bad for the soul to say that about God
They couldn't call that gladiator 2 though which seems to have been all they were concerned with
What boggles me is... they take the genuine article... then take... 10-30 years of time... to improve on NOTHING. Not one single thing.
Not the score, not the lighting, not the blocking, not the costumes -- NOTHING.
The single best received elements of this movie are guaranteed to be direct callbacks to the original... OF A LESSER CALIBER THAN THE ORIGINAL.
When normies try to tell me Schitt like this is "nOt ThAt BaD" that's the same moment when I classify those people as undiscerning/voiceless, and learn to stop caring what they think/say.
It's probably diversity hiring.
They want to consoom z slop
@@ephraimwinslow Truer words were never spoken
It's easy to improve on the lighting from the first movie. Just buy a thirty watt light bulb. How is it possible to have totally black shadows in the midday sun of Italy?
Those are the symptoms of a civilization in decline. Art is the mental product of a civilization, and it reflects the health of the civilization that produced it.
Russel crowe took a hard pass on any sequel. He said a long time ago that gladiator did not and could not have a sequel. I'm just amazed that so called talented actors keep taking these garbage roles. They are only doing it for the money.
Terrific review. Brutally honest, concise, and points out technical reasons why the psychology of the movie is flawed and why the emotional beats fall flat. Agenda driven script writing comes off as insincere.
Literally every medium now is agenda written. With some nice exceptions every once in a while. That's why everything is terrible now lol
These talentless writers don’t know the art of subtlety or nuance. It’s always in-your-face nonsense, which completely takes you out of the film.
It's not spoilers if you weren't going to watch it in the first place
I would add its not a spoiler if the movie itself is spoiled rotten 😂
It's easy to see why he was happy five minutes after she was arrowed.. seriously happy.
@@alasdair4161 LOL
Had to pause this to walk the dog and in coming back, I have a thought on how they could have had the wife die in battle and have it actually work: wife and child are fleeing while husband fights off attackers. In running, wife realizes that the attackers will catch up to them, orders the child to keep running, snatches up a discarded spear and holds her ground to try and give her child as much time to run as possible. It's more maternal, still has her doomed by the narrative, and makes sense because what mother wouldn't sacrifice herself to save her child?
You give modern day Hollywood script writers too much credit if you expect them to come up with that.🤣
It's a shame modern writers can't have a woman run away from a challenge, we all know women will be able to take out 100 trained soldiers with no martial combat experience what so ever.
My mum wouldn't 😒
To make it more personal Pascal himself could've specifically aim at the child(or just order it), i tought of this in 2min while shitting btw
Plus women don't want to fight in freaking hand in hand metal to metal combat
Sorry but they did. A lot of facts don’t care about your feelings.
@cantbendknee name 10, after you google it and manage to find 10 scattered across thousands of years, consider all the rest of the billions who fought were men.
@@Billy0789 I don't care, women fought in the colosseum. The film is absolutely dominated by men, the speaking roles and the action roles, women are star in such a small way yet you and your ilk are having a fit over it. That's funny to me. I pay my cinema ticket like everyone else and I want to see women portrayed in different ways in our story telling on screen. When you boil it down misogyny it is just the unwillingness to give.
@@cantbendknee Stop kiking Jew, thank god even left nowadays notices.
@cantbendknee Well hold on now, you were talking about historical facts and feelings earlier brother. I challenged the ridiculous statement you made and now your saying it's just a movie and they can portray a woman in any way they choose so I'm a misogynist? If you knew all along that women almost never fought in ancient battles from a historical perspective then why make a statement implying otherwise.
Pedro Pascal Fatigue is reason enough for me not to see this.
Gladiator II is the sequel we didn't need, want, or deserve.
" I am Maximus 2
Father of an adopted child
Husband of a strong independient woman who sucks at battle"
😂😂😂
Your problem with the ring his mother gave him that was owned by Maximus and Acasius is kinda unfounded. The army he sends the ring to was an army loyal to Acasius, who was planning a coup with said army. It's not unlikely that that Acasius would be killed while planning a coup so a messenger arriving with his ring(which could very well be recognizable as his and a symbol of his authority) is a believable way to send a message that he his in trouble and to come as reinforcements.
Thank you Shad, I was mildly interested in this just for the "historical" setting if nothing else, but forgot Pedro Putz-cal was in it. This does indeed seem like "The Force Awakens" all over again. Thank you for watching this steaming crap so I won't have to.
It has Pedro Pascal in it. According to that dude, I probably shouldn’t exist. This is the most I’m going to see of that movie.
will never watch a movie with that guy
@@russ254nope, he’s a piece of garbage
I must've missed something; I don't really even know who this Pedro guy is. I recognize his face, but I can't think of anything I've seen he's been in. Is he some woke douche that hates white guys?
I honestly thought when they were going to do Gladiator 2, I thought Rome would be a Republic(because that was Maximus’s wish at the end of the film).
Lucius is serving as a General in the Roman Army against small rebellions, but he hasn’t truly proved himself against a true army.
Maybe a Hannibal-like figure is leading a Carthaginian Army against Rome that is steamrolling the Roman Army.
The Senate appoints Lucius to become The Protector of Rome due to his promise as a Commander.
I thought Lucius would reflect on Maximus in the arena to seek a true warrior’s strength to ensure the survival of Rome.
It isn’t so much a return to the arena, but rather how Maximus inspires a boy(who isn’t his son) to be a great man.
Through rising to the occasion and by having good soldiers and officers around him, Lucius defeats this Carthaginian General.
Yet, we get the original Gladiator, but without heart and stupid.
You wrote a better and more interesting movie plot in a comment in RUclips than a whole Hollywood team of writers was even able to in the span of almost 30 years. Ah-mazing.
Instead of Gladiator 2 it should be "Gladiators" or "Gladiator 2000" with sci-fi vibes of entertainment
TBH a romen gladiator sent to the year 2000 can be a funny bace for a movie
Say what you want about it, Dracula 2000 was actually a pretty fun movie.
"NEVER. EVER. PHOQUE... with an antiques dealer."
@@12zxgglolThey'd probably last about 3 days before all the advanced infections made his arms and legs fall off. 😅
Dracula 2000 actually came up with interesting original lore, that being Dracua was Judas Iscariot, which explains his need for blood, fear of Christianity, and allergy to silver. If they made a similar movie now, they'd try to rehabilitate Judas, like that g8y musical did.
@@12zxgglol A Gladiator abducted by Aliens just like Roman Legions in "Ranks of Bronze" novel.
It has Pedro Pascal in it, so what did you expect?
Pedro Pascal is the New Nicolas Cage. He has a bad agent or He is completely broke.
But even with traditional roles and vulnerabilities aside, why would you enter a battle together with your spouse and risk bringing an end to your entire family? Now the wife isn't an innocent bystander cut down by evil - she's a willing combatant whose death is entirely justified. What an absolute fail
Haven't seen the movie yet but how in the hell is lucius now Maximus's son? The first movie hints that his mother and Maximus used to have feelings but it is never alluded to that lucius is Maximus's son.
They seriously used this precious pansy Pedro to be a mighty general and action hero...??!!
The wonder is that they didn't just go straight for the black russian and use Tim Walz himself !!!
About 2 decades for a sequel that didn't need to be made.
"What we do in life, gets ripped off for a shoddy memberberries sequel." -- Maximus
😂😂😂
I’m surprised they let the woman get killed off, and a black guy be a villain to a white hero.
This is just victim hood at its finest. Hollywood does have “woke” tendencies but there’s plenty of POC villians in modern films, idk why you guys always act like they always put a white person in a villian role
They did change historic middle eastern emperors of Rome to be played by Irish, but villainizing the Irish is what British do
@@rainbowmoon1461 there’s plenty of villain POC’s in modern media. Stop with this narrative
@@Sigmundfrued are there? because if there is they are always misunderstood and probably victims aswell
@@nahkaboltsi6315 yes, are you really going to make me write out an entire list? Even the MCU has countless non white and female villains, you guys have become like 2016 SJW’s with all this baseless complaining lol…
"Burns down its legacy"
This. Exactly this. This is the reason why they made it in the first place. These people HATE you and what you like.
Even if the CGI is good you see the clear difference to the first movie. Overuse of CGI is always crap. Paul Mescal is like a really bad choice as an actor for the movie.
Correct. There is CGI in Gladiator 1, bt it's used carefully so nobody can tell. The same is true of Mad Max Fury Road.
>South American playing a Roman
>Black noblemen in Rome
>Garbage rap music in the trailer
😂
It's excrusiating that this movie does ALL the things that I specifically hoped it would not be stupid enough to commit:
- Ridiculous action: The naval battles are over-dramatic, but... sharks? Really?! And the angry monkeys? And the rhino?! It's so stupid. It's stupid brain-numbing slop.
- Shallow references: The wheat field walks is unearned as it can be. Maximus' armour? Nonsensical. They're just there to make you go "Ooooh, I know that! I am smart!"
- Patriarchy smashing without actually saying anything about it: We got girlbosses, we got wife dying by going to battle, Petro Pascal is a soft man in a hard man's positions, etc. If Gladiator I was about how masculinity can both abuse and inspire, leaving you with a sense of hope, then Gladiator II is about how masculinity destroys and corrupts and is pathetic and is dangerous. Society under men is a diseased worthless dump and you should root for it's death. There is no hope. Only death. Men kill. Men die. That's it.
Classic modern subversion for the modern audiences. I hope it loses 100 million dollars.
Well said
Your breakdown on WHY WE CARED in the first is fantastic! you get it! very well said :)
I see Pedro Pascal, I don't watch
Should have made a Gladiatrix movie instead. One with lots of action and two plots.
Two big plots...
@@beowulfsrevenge4369 You know they would choose the actress with the smallest plots.
This all happened because someone watched Avengers Endgame and thought that the line exchange "You took everything from me / I don't even know who you are" was the best thing they'd ever heard.
My sister wanted me to go watch this movie with her, my reply was "Maximus is already dead. His story is over. Why ruin it with a sequel?"
They could have drawn from all the history of ancient Rome with gladiatorial arenas, and countless gladiators who most likely had gripping movie worthy lives;
....nope....we get
Gladiator "Remastered": The Force Awakening Rehash With A Pointless Girl Boss and That-One-Black-Guy . . . 2
"Hey everyone, remember that one Gladiator movie? Don't you wanna watch it again? Durrrr..."
The story is literally already written for them and they still mess it up.
we had movie theaters showing the original for about a month before the sequel, it was great to see it on the big screen, no need to see the sequel
Dear Hollywood,
Form is empty without Function.
You can wrap all of your products in pretty decorations, but it can not disguise that they're hollow inside.
We know the difference between artificial reproductions and genuine articles.
Please stop insulting us.
We once loved supporting Hollywood films.
We would love to again.
Remember that true art is not a servant to trends or profit.
True art creates trends and profit.
No, I will no longer give my money to Hollywood. I would sooner invest in companies who will bring moviemaking capabilities to the masses.
A coworker of mine that was explaining how great was the movie, told me he was actually Maximus' son. Meaning Maximus, a loving father and devoted husband, is now a cheating sack of shit. Good job destroying the character of the first movie.
He's cool guy, but i love picking on him (yes im an asshole). I asked him what he loved the most about the movie, and i immediately told him all his answers would be something copy pasted from the first movie. He told me he liked the "grabbing dirt before a battle" and the line "strength an honor".
Holy crap, this movie sounds like 100% current day Hollywood : Copy paste previous successes but with half the quality.
Damn....I almost feel sorry for your friend who is obviously very easily pleased - if watching someone grab literal dirt was what 'floated his boat' I'm happy for him....I'd like to know what he thought of 'The Shawshank Redemption' or 'The Godfather l or ll...I'm surprised hes still around and din't spontaneously combust upon watching those epic movies!? #JustSaying!!
The original theory from years ago floating around the internet before this garbage was even green lighted was that Maximus was, as we all know, Lucilla’s partner, she got pregnant with his child and then she cheated on him or just left him for another man, maybe with a higher social or political rank than him (his actual husband later) and Maximus formed a family soon after the whole ordeal (maybe out of spite in the beginning). Absolutely agree with the rest of your comment.
@@s0me0ne1se The people who create those dumb theories are absolute brainless morons who just want everything to be tied together no matter how little sense it makes. They don't understand or care about the characters or the story.
it would probably work as a cartoon with all these absurd and unintentionally comical stereotypes
Its got Pedro Pasqual in it so its gonna suck anyway. Just saying....
I would bet my entire life savings that the company who created Gladiator 2 did it off the back of AI they even asked the AI if it would be a good idea to make the movie as well
I asked AI if I had diarrhea and it said yes. I check my pants and they said yes.
I read that they succeeded in creating AGI. Maybe the Ai was malicious and wanted the studio to lose money.
Next up: Braveheart 2 - starring Idris Elba, who lost his wive, played by Selena Gomez, (who is also a decorated knight and much better than him in combat) due to the betrayal of some irrelevant scottish man.
Gladiator is my favorite film of all time and I have no inclination to see its' sequel. Complete and utter cash grab.
It would have been much better if he left her behind, they lost the battle, and while caged he sees her enslaved and going to anotyher place, making the plot and motivation wanting to save her. That is a plot worth a sequel, adn would diferentiate itself positively.
Also, gladiator 1 his family wasn't just killed, they were tortured and abused, Maximilian whole life was vengeace, he did not want to live, he dies happy.
On the second movie what hit me the most is when he gets angry and says rome assassinated his wife, I was like, she was fighting a war, no assassination happened. I do not see him angry for anyone else.
This, right here, would have made it a much better movie!
If you really wanted the revenge plotline, set the first act of the film in Alexandria, where the couple see a play with the emperor Caracala as the guest of honour, the play being about Romulus and Remus. It alludes to the historic massacre that occurred under Caracala's orders.
Hell, Caracala should have a much more significant presence throughout the film, given his historical counterpart was a ruthless authoritarian with no regard for kinslaying, incest or even breaking guest rights.
Act 2 should show the main character's journey to get as close to the emperor as possible, by becoming a gladiator. Have him training under an ex-slave from Germania who can provide insight into the living situations of the germans compared to the romans, highlighting the difference in standard of living, and establishing why the germans (and other similar communities), are interested in seizing Rome or adopting some of the Roman lifestyle. All while Caracala strengthens the Roman army at the cost of the people and the praetorian guard in preparation for his future campaign in the East. This will all take place over a few years, enough to train the main character in combat.
Act 3 will naturally, be a gladiatorial contest by the praetorian guard and the emperor to keep the bodyguards satisfied and to acquire noteworthy recruits from sponsored patricians. The main character will be victorious and will join the emperor on campaign as a bodyguard. We use this opportunity to humanise Caracala, show that he is suicidal and melancholic, have Geta's ( Caracala's brother) death be ambiguous in who was involved, and have him be a decent father(ly) figure to his sisters's sons. Have the main character question his drive for revenge, and when the opportunity arises, deny him his revenge. Caracala dies by order of the praetorian prefect, and with his main drive stolen by a political animal, and with said political animal marching to become emperor, the main character leaves to find a new reason to live.
Not that much different from the original Gladiator, and such a film might have glaring pacing issues and certainly won't be as spectacular, but it could be a better sequel than what we currently have. Then again, I'm not a film maker, so my opinion means bloody nothing, especially to "qualified" film makers.
There is no way they were abused to. There simply was not enough time between when the first group set off and when Maximus's group set off for them to have done so. Especially considering that Maximus was motivated to ride his horses to death to reach the farm in time whereas the first group were just following orders without any specific time constraints. They had no reason to rush.
Frankly I don't think they could have even arrived BEFORE Maximus because of this difference in motivation. Realistically Maximus absolutely arrived first and saved his family.
One of the most unnecessary sequels ever made. I was never gonna watch it, but I'm sure there'll be normies that will be convinced it's good, like Alien Romulus.
Romulus wasn't too bad. In a sea of eternal shite it is a great bitta driftwood.
After watching the Battle scene autopsy for this i looked at reviews(from our tiny country) and i was shocked. This steaming cowpad has almost 70%
The Main actor looks like they casted a Jake Paul style RUclipsr for the main in this movie. He has that look.
If they're too dumb to come up with their own good story, instead of just copying the first movie, why not do the obvious and tell the story of Spartacus? That's at least a bit different, fits the name of the moive and has a tragic ending.
Thank you. . . Literally, my thoughts every time he's on screen, I kept thinking who does he look like that made me really dislike his character, despite not knowing why.
Jake fucking Paul.
Nailed it.
The only reason this movie was made was to undermine the first one.
Also, "We wuz Roman emperors"...
Didn't see it. Not gonna see it. Hard pass.
No Men Were Filmed In This Movie
Hahaha loved it 👏🏼
I didn't see the new Matrix movie. I didn't see the new Star Wars movies. I'm not seeing Gladiator 2. I just play the original one that I know and love. Save your money, save your time.
It looked disappointing in the trailers. It wasnt just the awful rap music
Interesting analysis...
Furthermore, it should be noted that the story never explains why or how the protagonist has any martial (naval!) or combat skills... As far as we can see, he was simply part of a civilian militia defending a small town somewhere on the coast of North Africa...
Maximus's son so all those skills passed to him at birth..you know..like the Force
People joked about Gladiator 2 to mock Hollywood's desperate reliance on sequels.
I like to think an AI spied on all such mockery, took it as a recommendation and spat it at a boardroom that rolled with it.
The protagonist hated Rome the entire movie i really disliked him
I still remember when that little boy got trampled by the horses as like he was nothing and the mother's face turned from curious to horror.
So brutal and hits the heart real bad.
Also, the villain in "Gladiator" is shown to be the opposite of Maximus in the times when he threatens and takes whatever he wants from his sister and her son, instead of protecting them.
Creativity in Hollywood is dead. Wokeness & the bottom line is all that matters
You know what would have been cool? A cinematic story about Flamma. Think about it; a story about the rise of a legendary gladiator, any thought of escape is gone once the enjoyment of the fighting takes hold. A show almost showing the corruption of the crowd. It could end like the real man; him training the next generations of gladiator, or we can make it more heartbreaking as he himself starts to enslave his own people to fuel the very thing he once despised.
There's only one Gladiator movie! Sparticus is cool too;) Gladiator can touch your emotions especially at the end when she says"who will help me carry him"...I've carried a few loved ones in my life & that line is very profound.Can Gladiator 2 do that,I think not!
I really really wanted somebody to break this movie down. The entire premise of this movie is Roman provinces are starving so what do they do they rebel like the British Lords did when the magna Carta was signed. In Rome has to fight each province because they don't want to feed them. Then Denzel Washington's character saves the day by overthrowing the emperor and becoming emperor of Rome. This is just from the trailers this isn't the movie. Lucius story is probably a minor role. Basically I think this is how gladiator 2 was pitched to Ridley Scott. Instead of magna Carta era we do it in ancient Rome. That's the entire feel I get from this movie.
8:14 I was wondering if these siege scenes were legit the whole video. To find out they are is just sad. They look so cheap and generic.
It's not hard to understand they went woke.
I agree with the presenter. The death of a soldier in battle, no matter if it is a man or a woman, does not need to be avenged. At the start of the war in Ukraine, the women & children were sent west, away from the invading army. Some women stayed to fight but no one has felt it necessary to avenge the death f female soldiers in modern times. I am a older woman and I agree that men defend women in times of danger.
I havnt looked at wheat fields the same way in almost 25 years.
😢
even she's capable of fighting but, she should've been more on defending her family not in the battlefield. she's is not a an official soldier in that era.
Another weird thing not mentioned: Pedro Pascal is too much of a star to have a Roman haircut?
This. I couldn't place my confusion with him the whole movie until you said it. His haircut was all wrong
@@johnj.baranski6553 yep. He has a brand spankin new 2024 haircut lol
Also the girl died within like 5 minutes and we have absolutely 0 connection to her lol
I knew, from the moment this movie was announced, that it would be a big steaming pile of S***.
The problem I have with this film is the character motivations. They largely don't make sense. For example, a true warrior that has a warrior wife would be fine with the wife dying in combat. Such is war. If that's what they were depicting. This warrior wife is in a battle. It's fair game anyway you die. Gladiator showed innocent people being murdered which is what break's Maximus and he nearly dies. Completely justiable and makes sense. 2nd example, how the f did this Hanno/Lucius character gain the respect of his peers? He doesn't do anything to gain a following. Gladiator 1 on the other hand shows us Maximu's leadership and prowess in battle. He exudes a personal charisma and leadership skills particularly saving the German in the battle of Zama fight. Another example. Hanno goes from not even admitting he's Lucius and shouting at this mother to the next scene, to hugging and crying. There must be scenes because that kind of emotional leap from cold to warmth without any scenes to justify it just ruins this movie. Sure, the movie looked good apart from CGI monkeys and fucking sharks in the arena, but characters made no sense and you couldn't understand their motivations. Macrinus, the most interesting character, I don't know why he wants what he wants. In the original, with a few lines, I understood where each character stood even side characters like Senator Gracchus.
Yea, it was disappointing but not as bad as I thought it would be. 6/10 for me.
When they released the trailer featuring a song by Jay-z and Kayne West I already knew how this movie would turn out....
Ridley deciding to shoot 'Gladiator 2' on a digital camera for the sake of convenience makes it look like a Netflix streaming movie with that actors-doing-cosplay look compared to the gorgeous cinematic visual quality of kodak and eastman 35mm used for the first one where it actually looks like a professional studio movie from the big 5. The other letdown is that you don't really end up caring about any of the characters so you're not that emotionally engaged in the story unfortunately. Crowe actually looks like a regal war veteran / Roman general rather than a guy you would see down at your local gym and his performance manages to provoke you emotionally. The first 2 minute entrance alone into the colosseum before Maximus instructs the gladiators to all stick together just for sheer thrill-factor, soundtrack, tension building, visual quality..etc is far better than the entirety of Gladiator 2 (5.5). Ridley is great when he has a good script to work with (The Last Duel / The Martian) but his directorial style can't elevate a lacklustre script in the same way that someone like Spielberg can.
Agree with your entire comment except for the last sentence, let’s not fool ourselves, Ready Player One was absolute puppy doo-doo, nobody even brings it up into regular movie convos since the year after it was released and it’s never ever mentioned by anyone. His recent ones haven’t been quite good either.
@@s0me0ne1se Yeah that's a fair point as I definitely wasn't a fan of 'Ready Player One' either but I do think it was better than what Ridley would have done with the same script (seemed like too much of a committee made movie to allow either of their styles to come through tbh) and conversely for 'Gladiator 2,' I would have been really interested in an alternate timeline to see what Spielberg would have done with a page-for-page replica to bring to the screen. I find that for emotionally driven scenes, Spielberg tends to be more successful and at least we know he would have shot it on Panavision super 35 to reach the same visual quality of the first one. It would never become an 8 or 9 with that level of script but possibly a 6.5 / 7 under Spielberg if he also had a say on the casting and used John Williams to create a more memorable score for example.
I wish we got a sequel staring Juba, the black guy, as he lead the other gladiators into the wider world. Thats the only sequel that makes sense from the ending of the first movie.
This! Having Juba mentor Lucius would have been very cool.
No thanks
He wasn't heading into the wider world. He was heading back to his family.
The whole retcon with Lucius now being the son of Maximus CHEAPENS Maximus' arc as an honorable man. Yes, he had something with Lucilla in the past but that was iirc before she and he got married to other people, and when they reconnected after years he marvelled at how both of their sons were around the same age. To overcome the loss of his wife and son, and to show this kindness to the son of his old female friend just makes him even greater of a character. You do not NEED to be blood-related to a person to impress such kindness, admirability and drive for strength and honor onto them. This retcon literally bothered me throughout the movie.
Nick Cave did a draft of a sequel script that saw Maximus going into the underworld and battling mythological creatures. Now that is something I would have liked to have seen.
This goes for any true classic or Great Films, You don’t dishonor or disrespect a great movies/Cartoons by making a sequel or Remaking it…Disney is doing a fantastic job at destroying all the classics
Glad I didn't watch Folie a Deux. Glad to not have watched Gladiator 2 either now!
Joker and Gladiator remain pristine.
God, is there any film out there without Pedro Pascal? Dude must have some major casting couch talent? 😂
If true, I’m not surprised, the majority of Hollywood movies are flops, nothing new. What is surprising is that people keep paying to see them. I no longer pay to see movies. If I do bother watching, it’s for free.
If this movie was made one year later it would have been spared the modern audience curse.