At the Movies with Casey Foreman: “Gladiator II”

At the Movies with Casey Foreman: “Gladiator II”

I did not enjoy this as much I wanted to…

Gladiator II feels like a legacy sequel that didn’t need to be made.

I didn’t love the castings or performances across the board – excluding Denzel Washington, of course, who shines in a somewhat repetitive story/script.

Paul Mescal didn’t feel like the right pick for the role of Lucius – Pedro Pascal felt like a wasted casting, in a role with little emotional attachment.

The action was impressive and is definitely the highlight of the film, a slight disappointment considering the quality of actors casted.

Though the action it is the highlight, I still expected slightly more from Ridley Scott, inside of the coliseum.

The story ultimately failed to fully engage me, despite it’s runtime that’s a bit drawn out.

Visually, it was fun to see it on an IMAX screen, but besides that, this isn’t something I’d recommend to moviegoers or fans of the original.

Now I see why Wicked had 2x the seats sold…