Ridley Scott’s recent track record could be setting ‘Gladiator II’ up for a fall
Having almost single-handedly revived the historical epic with the original Gladiator, it would be foolish to bet against Ridley Scott doing the exact same thing again when the long-awaited and hotly-anticipated sequel brandishes its sword in cinemas in November 2024. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t doubts.
The impact of Russell Crowe’s stint as Maximum Decimus Meridius is undeniable. Gladiator was the second highest-grossing release of 2000, behind only Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible II. It won five Academy Awards from 12 nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’, and inspired a short-lived phenomenon that saw virtually every major studio in Hollywood throw its hat into the ring in the hopes of replicating the film’s success.
It’s the first direct sequel of Scott’s legendary career, although he did return to Alien for prequels Prometheus and Covenant, and it’s set to be the most expensive production he’s ever helmed, with an estimated budget said to be north of $300million. Of course, he’s an expert at marshalling massive-scale shoots, and he’s also got one hell of an ensemble cast to work with.
Paul Mescal is well on his way to living up to his early billing as a potential generational talent, and Denzel Washington is as guaranteed a box office draw as Hollywood has at its disposal. Throw in rising star Joseph Quinn, the near-ubiquitous Pedro Pascal, and returning stars Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi, and Gladiator II stands every chance of living up to the lofty standards set by its predecessor.
There’s almost no chance it will flop, given the sum of its parts, but will it be able to live up to the hype? Based on Scott’s repeated returns to the past in a number of subsequent features post-Gladiator, that question remains an entirely open-ended one. He’s made a lot of epics since, but how many of them have been able to hold a candle to Gladiator? Maybe one, possibly two at a push, which isn’t overly encouraging.
The Last Duel is comfortably the best of his period pieces to emerge in Gladiator‘s wake, but the filmmaker entered full-blown angry old man territory when it flopped. Much like Gladiator II, it had a top-tier director working in a very familiar sandbox with plenty of big-name stars in tow, but casual audiences simply weren’t interested.
As the sequel to a widely-liked movie that doesn’t have a pandemic to contend with, the follow-up will easily outstrip Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s reunion. However, that’s not where the issues lie. Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood, Exodus: Gods and Kings, and Napoleon all suffered from a number of shared flaws, all of which could realistically rear their heads in Gladiator II.
None of them performed in line with commercial expectations, either, but inbuilt brand recognition should at least ensure Gladiator II avoids a similar fate. Kingdom of Heaven maybe deserves an asterisk next to its name because the director’s cut was vastly superior, but that wasn’t the version sent out to cinemas. It was muddled, unwieldy, lacking in genuine stakes and dramatic tension, with a couple of standout action sequences and sweeping spectacle failing to paper over the cracks in its construction.
Robin Hood and Exodus each boasted a stacked cast but were crippled by their narrative shortcomings. Napoleon was a lot funnier than anyone expected it to be, but still flattered to deceive overall. None of the three were runaway successes in terms of ticket sales or audience reception, which is more than enough to cast doubt on just how deeply Gladiator II‘s presumed victory is etched in stone.
Scott has made five vastly expensive historical epics since Gladiator, and none of them have been anywhere near as good. A couple of them came close, but even at that, they underperformed relative to what was expected of them. Hopefully, history doesn’t end up repeating itself yet again, but neither is it particularly encouraging that all of Scott’s best films since 2000 have been outside of his latest feature’s chosen genre.
The Martian, American Gangster, Black Hawk Down, and Matchstick Men tackled cosmic isolation, sprawling criminal empires, nerve-shredding warfare, and breezy black comedy, respectively, with Scott’s desire to shake things up more often than not reaping the rewards. Gladiator II is a return to very familiar turf in more ways than one, which places it on a knife edge that could just as easily tip to either side. Hopefully, it lives up to expectations because nobody should want to revel in glorious failure, but it’s far from a cast-iron guarantee.
