Nearly 24 years after the release of “Gladiator,” fans were graced with the sequel, “Gladiator II,” set 16 years after the end of Gladiator. 

As a Ridley Scott fan, and a much bigger “Gladiator” fan, this was my most anticipated watch of the year. I had high expectations for this movie going into watching it and let me just say… It did not disappoint. 

The opening credits followed the same animation style however, in “Gladiator II,” the animations show scenes from the first movie. Scenes like Commodus’ (Joaquin Phoenix) thumbs up in the arena, or Maximus’s (Russel Crow) famous line, “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius” and the tiger fight that happens during the games when Maximus was fighting Tigris of Gual.

Throughout the entire movie there are multiple references to the first. In my opinion, if you plan on watching Gladiator II you definitely need to watch the first movie.

 There are so many references to the first movie that only people who have watched will pick up on.

That being said, the beginning of the movie explains well enough the time period that fell between Maximus and Lucius (Paul Mescal) that movie goers could follow along with the movie, they just may be a little lost as to the background of some characters. 

The movie is set 16 years after Maximus kills Commodus and gives Rome back to the people. The dream of Rome and one Maximus was trying to achieve was to make Rome a republic. In the second movie, Maximus’ son Lucius is still trying to achieve that dream.

He must overthrow the current Emperors, Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). With action-packed scenes and hopes for revenge, Lucius faces his father’s legacy in the Colosseum.

The beginning of the movie opens up with a battle scene, which is no surprise to any one. The fight is between Rome’s armies, lead by General Acacius (Pedro Pascal) and the armies of a North African city, where Lucius and his wife are living.

This scene was action packed and set the tone for the battles and fights that would take place throughout the movie.

In my opinion it is the best action packed scene in the movie. This scene gives a reason for the conflicts between two main characters, Lucius and Acacius, and shows the start of Lucius’ journey to the Colosseum. 

Lucius’ wife is shot and killed during the battle on an order given by General Acacius. As his wife falls into the sea, Lucius tries to reach her, but is whacked over the head and falls unconscious into the sea as well.

One significant moment in this scene is Lucius breaking off a piece of the arrow that killed his wife and carrying it with him throughout the movie.

Lucius was then bought and became a gladiator. He made a deal with Macrinus (Denzel Washington), the gladiator master, that if he would keep winning Macrinus would give Lucius exactly what he wanted, revenge on Acacius. 

Geta and Caracalla are portrayed in a very child-like manner, always giggling, and never acting as most emperors would. The way they act is similar to how unhinged Commodus was in the first movie when he became emperor.

But really the main star of the movie was Caracalla’s monkey, Dondus. Dondus later becomes consul to Emperor Caracalla.

One key actress who returned for the sequel was Connie Neilsen, who plays Lucilla, Lucius’ mother and wife to Acacius. However there isn’t much of a character development for her. She continues to make the same mistakes she made in the first movie to save her son. 

I would have liked to see a bit more of a development in her character in both movies. I feel she could have played a bigger part, but was just always driven by the need to save her son from both emperors, Commodus and the twins. The second movie especially, she puts her trust in the wrong people and soon meets her fate, in an anticlimactic final battle in the colosseum.

In my opinion the battle scenes and the conflict between Lucius and Acacius are the most interesting parts of the movie. 

There definitely could have been more development in the characters, the movie seemed a bit rushed, even though it was over two hours long. But the references to the first movie and the acting are what make this movie a worthy watch.

And let’s be honest, everyone wants to see a shirtless sweaty Paul Mescal fighting on their screen. With big name actors such as Mescal, Pacal, Washington, Neilsen, Quinn and Hechinger, it is no surpirse that the movie is among Scott’s top-grossing films sitting at $368 million so far.

I give this movie 4.5 mustangs out of 5.