Lewis Hart’s review published on Letterboxd:
Was always going to be difficult to live up to a best picture winner as beloved as Gladiator but I think this is a solid entry into Ridley's recent filmography.
That being said I don't think it's anywhere near it's predecessor, whilst I really like Paul Mescal and think he's a brilliant actor I didn't completely buy into him in this film. I think he was alright but I didn't get that presence of a hero from him like I did Crowe's Maximus. I thought he shined in the few moments of emotion and heartfelt moments in this film but ultimately was quite weak when it came to the action. By far the shining light of this film was Denzel Washington. To be honest I think with Denzel this film doesn't work half as well as it did for me. His ability to switch from being funny to menacing within a heartbeat was what really locked me in to this story that was essentially a rehashing of the original just weaker. His character's plan of weaseling his way to power through that shadows of Rome's politics was always going to be something that I would love. The rest of the ensemble cast were really good as well especially Joseph Quinn and Pedro Pascal for what moments he had which were surprisingly a lot less than I expected.
It's a solid film but I'm not entirely sure if it really justifies the need for this sequel. I just love this world so much that it doesn't bother me to jump back into it even if it is slightly underwhelming.
Lewis liked these reviews
All
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_6e000834-b9d8-4142-aa9e-5e704a966b2e" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-6e000834-b9d8-4142-aa9e-5e704a966b2e'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-6e000834-b9d8-4142-aa9e-5e704a966b2e'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-6e000834-b9d8-4142-aa9e-5e704a966b2e'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_9f6b4712-b80c-4a6f-b3cc-0594cb1d0365" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-9f6b4712-b80c-4a6f-b3cc-0594cb1d0365'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-9f6b4712-b80c-4a6f-b3cc-0594cb1d0365'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-9f6b4712-b80c-4a6f-b3cc-0594cb1d0365'));
