32/27

From Carmen and "St

Scenario

After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.. Elsewhere" to "Stranger Things," check out the TV and movie roles of Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, and more.. In the years following the release of the first film, there were numerous attempts to write a sequel. Musician Nick Cave was invited to draft a version by Russell Crowe and Sir Ridley Scott.

The studio decided not to go through with this version, but the script is available to read online

His version focused on the more mythical elements of Ancient Rome, and would have seen Maximus arrive in the afterlife, only to be faced with other souls who are yet to ascend further. He is eventually tasked by Jupiter and other Roman deities to return to earth to find and kill Hephaestus, a former deity who has betrayed them. From there, he is resurrected as a Christian and finds himself journeying back to Rome, on a mission to stop Christianity from spreading, while crossing paths with the new Emperor, Lucius. The movie would have ended with Maximus being cursed to live for an eternity, featuring a montage of the soldier battling through the Crusades, World War II, and the Vietnam War, eventually revealing a modern-day Maximus working at the Pentagon in Washington.

Spectacular set pieces

Emperor Geta: The gods have SPOKEN!. Featured in The 7PM Project: Episode dated 3 July 2024 (2024). The film has plenty to commend it. Multiple plots that weave together.

Interesting side characters

A pace that rises and relaxes with the right beats. The feeling of a taking place within a rich Roman world that has a life of its own. But it’s hard to appreciate those when the film has numerous key flaws. There’s very little tension outside of a 4th act twist, with everything before being a reskin of the events of the first film.

There’s elements of a good film in there

The echoes aren’t subtle either, but the characters quote their predecessors and we have multiple flashbacks. The action, the historical details, and even individual characters key decisions make so little that it often breaks the suspense of disbelief (not least of all that scene of kids playing football). Most critically, the key cast and Paul Mezcal most of all (but with the notable exception of Denzel Washington) simply fail to make their characters believable: that the scripts have them always giving stern speeches rather than simply talking doesn’t help. But it’s hard to appreciate them when the flaws stick out so sorely.