What, like the fall of Rome isn’t a little silly?
Photo: Paramount
Gladiator II is a funny title for a movie — any movie, not just a Gladiator sequel. A few years back, we might have reckoned with a title like Gladiator: Rise of Lucius or Sand and Blood: A Gladiator Saga, but no, now it’s just Gladiator II. You remember Gladiator? This is the second one. The Roman numerals are because these guys are Roman. Don’t overthink it.
That type of “listen, it’s a sequel” energy pulses through Ridley Scott’s latest blockbuster. Just about every element of the first film that people like or remember is back and hits you like a hammer: fingertips sifting through wheat, Paul Mescal’s Lucius encouraging other fighters to…
