Last Friday, Paramount Pictures hosted the first screening of Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” (November 22) on its studio lot. This week came the junket screenings, and between them, many over-the-top reactions that praised the Paul Mescal-starring follow-up — in which he bulked up way beyond his “Normal People” physique — as one of the great sequels. With those typically fanboy-level first reactions behind us, how does the film actually stack up, and especially in terms of the Oscar race?
That’s the lens we, Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio, co-hosts of IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast, look at “Gladiator II” this week as the review embargo awaits. The sequel picks up two decades after the events of the first film, which won Best Picture and Russell Crowe Best Actor at the Oscars in 2001, with Maximus’ (Crowe, seen only in flashback in this film) son Lucius (Mescal) brought to Rome from Africa by Roman general Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal). Once in Rome, it’s a fight to the death as Lucius is forced into gladiator servitude by former slave and quasi-mentor Macrinus (Denzel Washington), who is fighting for power over this film’s Romulus and Remus, Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger).
What works: Washington is having a whale of a time as a sadistic machinator, relishing his role in a way that actors, perhaps voters of the Screen Actors Guild especially, will respond to. But Anne doubts that “Gladiator II” will perform well at the Oscars at all, even at the crafts level, calling this film a miserable paean to manliness, i.e. a Ridley Scott movie. Ryan enjoys the performances of Quinn and Hechinger, both perversely weird and in garish face powder and recalling Joaquin Phoenix’s incestuous turn in the first film, but the movie doesn’t quite go far enough into the twisted and weird. That’s even despite CGI creatures like bloodthirsty sharks and rhinos introduced.
Connie Nielsen, reprising her role as Lucis’ mother Lucilla from the first film, has only wooden dialogue and little character development to hang on. Washington seems the best shot for “Gladiator II” at the Oscars. This would mark his 10th acting nomination — he won lead for “Training Day” and supporting for “Glory.”
Elsewhere, we discuss the latest category submissions at the Golden Globes — “The Substance” going Comedy means Demi Moore is destined to get a deserved nom — and where the current Best International Feature Oscar race lies.
Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.
Screen Talk is produced by Azwan Badruzaman and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. Browse previous episodes here, subscribe here, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk.
