Front Row Movies

Ex Arena In Libertatem

If there's one thing Ridley Scott does well, it's a battle scene.

He's had enough practice after all now that a large portion of his back catalogue has taken place within settings of historical conflict. And so with Gladiator II, the sequel that nobody really saw coming, or perhaps felt was necessary, Scott wastes no time in throwing us straight into a spectacular naval siege. Five minutes after being introduced to character Hanno (Paul Mescal) and his wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen), they are forced to defend their port city home from a Roman invasion. The action is viscerally bloody and brutal; fast paced and realistic - going some of the way to match the phenomenal opening of the original. 

Instead of triumphant cries of 'Roma victor!' after the port's defence is breached and the dust settles however, we have subdued images of the city's civilian population grieving hysterically as the bodies of the fallen are piled up and burnt. Pedro Pascal's general Acacius announces wearily that he 'claims this city, for the glory of Rome.' Already it's clear that the idea of Rome in Gladiator II isn't what it once was. Indeed this is the empire 15 years after the events of the first film.

As Acacius returns to the capital we find the city has declined under the heady excess of rule under twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). Meanwhile Hanno has been taken to Ostia on the outskirts of Rome, along with other prisoners of war in order to be selected and trained as gladiators. 

It should come as no real surprise that the bulk the film occurs in and around the colosseum and it wouldn't be a stretch to say there is a fair bit of rehashing going on. Like Maximus, Hanno has to survive the brutality of the arena and gain the respect of his fellow gladiators. However, unlike Maximus who had a singular individual in Commodus as the focus of his revenge, Hanno's vengeance is less easily placed. Macrinus, Hanno's stable master played by Denzel Washington in unhinged fashion (you can tell he's having fun) complete with broad New York accent, tells him 'rage pours out of you like milk from a whore's tit'. As it turns out the figure of resentment for Hanno is as much his own mother as anyone else, after Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) confronts him and tells him Maximus is his father, revealing Hanno as grown up Lucius from the first film.

Gladiator II's central conflict is whether Hanno will be consumed by this vengeance. Will he let rage and chaos take over or will he carry the burdens of his past and become something more? Yes, it all boils down to more or less typical hero's journey tropes, replete with one too many rousing speeches, (Hanno/Lucius even quotes Virgil at one point) but because an actor of Mescal's quality takes the proceedings seriously, the story is affecting. There are contrivances and throwaway characters - for instance Hanno's companion Ravi is little more than a device for exposition and falls far short of the brilliance of Oliver Reed's Proximo. The CGI is overbaked at times, with baboons, sharks and other critters turning up the action within the arena unnecessarily to '11'. Washington eats up his scenes with a little too much gusto. But the underlying meat of the tale, which depicts the 'mighty labour' between destiny and choice; between morality and nihilism, is worthwhile. The hallmarks of the original are certainly there.

And, fittingly, nowhere does this sense hit home more than at the end of the film. We find Lucius returning to an empty arena for a moment of reflection, with merely the wind blowing where fifty thousand raucous spectators previously stood. Pitched against a violet sunset sky, the final, almost psychedelic images are incredibly moving which almost feels out of place after all the hack and slash. 

Lucius recognises the spirit of morality that Maximus had, is found within himself, while also realising in a moment quiet desperation, that preserving said morality amid all the desolation will fall on his shoulders alone. As Lucius whispers to his father for guidance with a tightly clasped handful of sand and Hanz Zimmer's sublime 'now we are free' begins to play, we can argue why Gladiator II ultimately does deserve to stand in the same light as the original, since the lasting impression we get is one that the first film was actually all about; spirit and hope.

A kind of hope that, if called upon, even when only a faint glimmer against the overwhelming hardness and emptiness of the world, is always there. Echoing in eternity.