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Gladiator II (2024) - Full Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2025-02-03 06:52:17
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2026-06
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I’m sorry this is late, the theatre reactions are hard edits, although I am glad we saw this in there! I think we both liked it way more than expected and that reviews were too harsh. Of course, it was not as good as the original but I thought it was still a good sequel. Tan Paul Mescal was great, Lucilla was great. Some parts were over the top yes, but all in all we enjoyed it! What did you guys think of it?

(Face/Off will be up shortly!)

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[Full Reaction] Gladiator II (2024)

Comments

AC5555

I loved it way too much and in some ways more so than the first one. Just a huge sucker for the political intrigue and was also very moved by Lucius’s story.

Philip Alan

This is exactly why you should watch the Mark Wahlberg‘s Planet of the Apes! Because you just never know! I think it would make for a great reaction! 😀 (hides)

Matt

I'm happy you liked it I thought it was very entertaining, looking forward to re watching it with you reaction 😊

Night King01

Just some historical trivia for anyone that wants to know. Macrinus actually became roman emperor ruling for one year before being assassinated. Sharks were never used in the colosseum but hippos and crocs were. Caracalla was not a weakling sickly emperor but a massive built and manly man of the times. And far more brutal than the movie portrays. Also no rhinos. Rhinos cannot be domesticated.

Cole Jennett

It’s going to change quickly, but it’s nice to see some positive comments about this movie. It’s not nearly as bad as people have said on here recently. You’re right, it’s not the original but it’s still worthy of a watch.

Matt

Have you seen "Aftersun" 2022, highly recommend it for an incredible Paul Mescal film

ArsTropica

I don't normally care about the mercenary nature of the film industry, but I won't blindly wander a cash grab when I see it. Gladiator Pt. I told its story and then wrapped the whole thing with a gold ribbon. No need for a sequel. They could have easily made another ancient Roman film without slapping on a sequel title. This is just proof that those spineless, risk averse studio execs will sell their mothers if it produced a cent. Giving this particular sequel a hard skip

fargoboyle .

I watched this in the cinema, okay at best. Hard pass on sitting through it again, sorry Twenty odd years to get a script good enough and they serve this up. From George Dawes (UK Shooting Stars TV reference) on the scores, to the silly emperor brothers to Denzel OOT performance and Mescal's complete 180 in his character. I may come across this in 5 years time when it's on TV at Christmas and watch it again probably fuelled with too many mince pies and Cider to switch to another channel

rakesh

I dont want to tarnish the memory of a now classic

Shehab Dawoud

Personally thought this movie was a mess, and I knew it would be as soon as I heard rap music in the trailer..

Philip G.

Cassie , Google hairless baboon . Those animals are very much real 😂

Wesley White

I'll for sure watch this tomorrow when I get off work! Right now I'm too tired, I spent 2 days going to the 30th Anniversary of Xena Warrior Princess Convention in Burbank, CA! It was fun and I met many of the cast of that show, unfortunately I did not meet Lucy Lawless, dang it lol! Anyway, just to give you my two cents on what I think of this sequel really quick, honestly, I liked it! I thought it was entertaining, it's definitely not perfect and not as good as the original, but I still think it was a worthy sequel! One piece of trivia on what is and isn't accurate of this movie I will tell you though! Accurate: the Roman Colosseum was capable of flooding water to a certain height so they could do Gladiatoral Reenactments of famous sea battles! Non-accurate: having sharks! They just added sharks for dramatic effect, whatever works lol! Anyway, I'll give this a watch tomorrow night when I get off! Can't wait for your reaction to "Face/OFF" that is one of my all time favorites, love and support and take care🥰😇🙏🤗😁😉✌👍🌹

Gábor Árki
>>163412479

Flooding used to be a thing, originally. But showing it here is highly inaccurate. The Colosseum was rebuilt like a century before Marcus Aurelius, and this feature was replaced with an elaborate set of underneath tunnels, trap doors, and elevators. The ones we've even seen in the first movie! So flooding became an impossibility because of those. But okay, I may have been able to suspend my disbelief this much if at least we would have gotten an engaging story. But also adding fetching sharks to the mix? That just really jumped the shark for me.

Shehab Dawoud

In all seriousness, though, this is not a bad movie, it's just too much of an unnecessary carbon copy of the first. It doesn't add much if anything to the original story, so what was the point? Maximus being Lucius' father is also just way too contrived. I'm struggling to see why Ridley did it and what he got out of it. Apparently, a 3rd one is in the works. That'll be more interesting than this one. As for Denzel, it seems to be the consensus that he was the best thing in this. Personally, his performance was just another example of Denzel annoying me, as great as he is and as much as I like him. This was once again Denzel choosing not to step out of his comfort zone and basically playing a similar character to what we've seen from him so many times. It's annoying because he is capable. On top of that, he always has to be larger than the movie itself instead of being a well-integrated, proportionate character in the story. Even the way he dies is WTF. He gets his hand cut off? Really? It's like because he's Denzel he's too good to get his head chopped off or have a sword shoved right through his heart. Still hope you watch him later this month in 'Malcolm X'! I'm definitely watching 'Face/Off' before this.

Rick Rodriguez

Alas, I was pretty disappointed with the movie. It reminded of the sequels of the 80s where they just repeat the first one but just make it "bigger" with less substance. Mescal, while a good actor in other movies, just doesn't have the timeless hero quality that Crowe had. And characters from the first one seem dispensable. *avoiding spoilers. Washington though is a hammy delight. Worth watching once for him.

Dean Holt

Glad you enjoyed it, but I’m still going to wait until it’s free over here in the U.K. as I’ve just heard too many bad things about it and Mr Scott not had a great record as of late.

Clay F

First watch. I liked it. I wish I would have seen the movie in the theater. I thought the story was fine. Interesting twists. Also, stuff to cheer for. Good action and effects/CGI. A good movie. Paul Mescal did well. I also very much liked "Normal People" (2020) (1 season) series you alluded to in the intro. Connie Nielsen (who has seemed to age well) was good in her role as Lucilla, but would be hard to beat how convincing she was in the first Gladiator. Denzel did the villain well. The cutting off of his hand at the end was a little over the top. In all, I thought the movie captivating. For my personal tastes = 7.5/10 The baboons were apparently based on real baboons (hairless or feral baboons?). Ridley Scott was supposedly inspired to include the baboons after being disturbed by a video of baboons attacking tourists in Johannesburg. That tall black guy with Lucius early in the movie was also that creepy Persian Emissary in 300 (2006). Lastly, that depiction of a dog nursing two children is based on a real bronze sculpture (that I have seen) in Rome -- called "The Capitoline Wolf."

Andrew Myers

My favorite thing about it is how it kept going out of its way to remind the viewer how much better the first one is. Colossal disappointment. What a stupid movie.

Dan M

I’m with you, Cassie. It was definitely nowhere near as good as the first movie, but still an enjoyable popcorn flick. Paul Mescal did a commendable job in the lead, but he had to have known he would be working in the shadows of Russell Crowe’s unforgettable performance. And even two weird, evil twin Caesar’s were no match for Joaquin Phoenix’s “top 10 most despicable characters in a movie” Commodus. The action sequences were great, and I did love that Ridley Scott brought back some of the original music from the first movie, including “Now We Are Free”.

Mojo One Thousand

"It's hurting my heart to see Denzel so evil"... hmm, about that, there's is at least one movie that gets requested a bit that says "hold my beer". I saw this in the cinema and thought that it was fine, not as good as the first, but my experience was marred by some disrespectful audience members. So, this did give me a chance to give it another try. I still think similarly but it was better this time around for me. I did misremember some parts. I did think the first felt more gory as the effects were more practical, but I must have had some of the later scenes dampened by the cinema experience. Also, I think the feral baboons slipped my mind. Properly a fair criticism that they take you out of it a bit, but to be fair they would be mistreated and not living in their natural habitat, so the conditions may force them to use their arms incorrectly, I.e. use them as legs inside of arms to make them more dog rather than primates. It's probably a bit of a stretch on my part. Carly also asked some good questions about the sharks.

Jimmy Reyes

I liked it. Even though that wasn't his son. They kept saying he was the father. They never mentioned that in the first. The twins were great villains.

Chris Thom
>>163425510

Were the boys both emperors, or was it just one, and the other got to hang around?

Chris Thom
>>163429367

Was going to ask 'which Denzel movie' than I remembered I can only think of one. Pretty sure a little gold-guy trophy was involved.

TheSingulatarian
>>163409349

The make-up is certainly impressive as is the cast, but it just didn't come together. I also generally try to avoid Mark Wahlberg. Such a racist, garbage human.

Joe

I just can't stomach watching this movie, LOL. I'll catch the YT edit when I'm in the right mood.

Joe
>>163411582

The studio loses money, which they should on this turkey. But everyone involved gets a fat paycheck upfront, so life's good, LOL.

Joe
>>163409349

Based on advice, her plan is she watches Planet of the Apes (1968), and then the newer ones. She skips the Walhberg one. Plan might change who knows.

Michael West

I actually enjoyed this movie as a stand alone, the negativity comes when my mind tries to compare it to the first.

Mojo One Thousand
>>163429367

That would be the one... but funnily enough there a Ridley Scott, Rusty Crowe, Denzel film that I thought of (quite the gladiator synergy) but I can't remember if Denzel exceeds "Gladiator II" for villianousness, certainly wouldn't go over the Oscar winner.

Dan M
>>163425510

I believe they were both Caesar’s, although the taller one (can’t remember his name) seemed to be more of the alpha and called the shots.

Kristin D

Unpopular opinon (probably): The main thing I dislike about this is how Maximus apparently was with Lucilla and his wife at the same time in order for both the children to be the same age. In the first movie, they made it crystal clear how much he loved his wife and child, and it seems forced that he would've been with Lucilla at the same time. The way it was presented before, Lucilla came before the wife and child in Spain. So yeah, not impressed with them tainting a beautiful story before. This movie just smells of the "Search for more Cash".

aarswft
>>163447864

Lucius was clearly older than Maximus’ son though. We knew they had a romance. They obviously were together and she got pregnant before Maximus got married.

Andrew Ramos

Now is the perfect time to continue the momentum by having a Cassie/Carly reaction to Rome. It's only two seasons and has great writing and set pieces.

Chris Thom
>>163429367

Woah I completely forgot that movie exists. Like totally wiped from my memory. Ridley Scott really has been working for a while. Respect. And now he's 87.

Chris Thom
>>163425510

That's really interesting. Don't think I've ever seen a movie with something like that. I guess The Crown kind of presented Elizabeth and her sister as total equals in the beginning, but the second she got the job, it was lights out.

Joe
>>163411582

@Chris, general rule of thumb is a film needs to make 2.5 times it's budget just to break even, so Glad II needed to make $525M box office, it was $64M short just to break even. Streaming revenues will make up for some of this loss.

Clay F
>>163425510

These two emperors (Caesars) were a let down to me compared to the stunning Phoenix performance in the first.

Jason Dolan

I think that’s the perfect review of this movie - but also Denzel was a lot of fun

D. T. Nelson

The "warewolf baboons" were simply shaved baboons. The CGI (or perhaps the compositing) on them was more than a bit off, but yeah... shave any animal and they will look alien. Just look at the hairless cats (Sphinx cats). What planet are those from?

Clarence Newman

I think my iPad is trying to tell me something. I have a program on there that allows me to watch all kinds of movies, but I have to mirror the iPad to my tv first. Normally I have no problem, but when I tried to watch Gladiator 2 tonight, it kept dropping the link. It was like it was saying to me, "Life is short, my old mucker. I'm doing you a solid by turning off this ka-ka." The most telling aspect of this is that I wasn't upset.

Clarence Newman
>>163429367

Gold trophy? I thought I knew the movie you're talking about, but that doesn't ring a bell. Ethan's hawk? King Kong? Disloyal, fool-ass, bitch-made punks?

Larry Darrell

Cassie… treasure these times, when you can still watch new Hollywood films and enjoy them. Many of us have had our Red Pill moment sometime in the past 10 years, and we can never go back. Mine was The Last Jedi. Thankfully almost all the films from before the awakening are immune, so we still have decades of awesome films that can’t be harmed. Once you’ve lost trust in Hollywood, that they will always put Quality Storytelling over anything else… it’s no longer fun watching new movies. There’s an odd good one occasionally, like The Fall Guy. But, there’s no longer the excitement beforehand, of “I’m about to watch something spectacular.” That feeling only comes after the film, and rarely these days. I watched Air Force One (1997) again over the weekend, and even still now, 28 years later, I still had an excitement watching the opening credits with just the film’s score playing, unlike anything I’ve felt in a long time. They just don’t make films like that anymore. :-( I plan on seeing the new Mission Impossible and 28 Years Later. That’s the only 2 films coming out this next year that I still have trust in.

My_Cousin_Mose
>>163447864

They are definitely the same age. In the first movie Lucilla tells Maximus that her son is nearly 8 and Maximus replies "my son is also nearly 8."

Mojo One Thousand
>>163429367

I think you are picking up what we are putting down Clarence. I do get intentionally vague/obtuse about these things so there can be some mystery when Cassie gets to certain movies.

Chris Thom
>>163429367

Denzel's golden trophy AFTER wrapping the movie. Edit: oh right, ethan's hawk, king kong...I haven't really seen these movies in a while. Lol

Chris Thom
>>163422338

Think I might be the only one that really liked a Good Year. But s**t that was like 17 years ago now. Time flies.

Chris Thom
>>163409649

Apparently a shit-ton of Roman leaders got killed over the years. Must've been at least a couple of guys that said 'nah i'm good' and passed it on.

Night King01
>>163409649

They actually sold the office of emperor to the highest bidder once. That guy got killed to for not being able to pay the praetorians salaries

Chris Thom
>>163481984

Hey we got an alien-built mountain up here too, apparently. Laminarians live inside it and make weird cloud formations or something. The local (high af) locals make crystals to appease them.

Chris Thom
>>163483058

You might actually like Severance if you give it a try and stick with it a bit. It's not an IP and it's pretty unique.

Kristin D
>>163447864

I went back to check what they said, and you are exactly right. Their sons are about the same age.

Augustine Lee

i love cassie and carly but this movie was complete trash. it was a shot for shot re-creation of the original with almost no character growth or sensical plot development. to each their own

John A

I enjoyed the movie, not nearly as good as the first one, and the shaved baboons did not look real, but like bad CGI to me, the Rhino and mostly the Sharks took me out of the movie for those scenes, if they had been just Gladiator fight scene, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. We also did not need him to be Maximus son, that did tarnish he love for his wife, in the first movie. but still enjoyed it.

Luke Godfrey

First time watching this movie. I thought the movie was pretty good but to be honest it's not one I'd likely watch again. I've only seen the first Gladiator movie a handful of times and this one doesn't even come close to it. On this occasion I saw the plot twist coming and knew he was Lucius. Though I think making him Maximus's son too was a reach too far. And while I understand why the cast Paul Mescal, I didn't love the break it continuity. P.s. Carly's reactions to the gory scenes had me laughing out loud.

Johnny Bullis
>>163606681

I agree fully about Lucius being his son.. no where does the first movie even hint at that being a possibility...

aarswft

I love that it took them 3 full business days to recognize Lucilla

aarswft
>>163606681

It doesn't hint that it's not though. They were together while she was married, their relationship ended and he married someone else. It's not crazy to believe she had to end it because she was had to pretend her son was her husbands.

Johnny Bullis

Cassie and Carly.. I loved that you two watched this.. here are my thoughts. The reason why its a stretch that Lucius is Maximus' son is because the first movie never implied it.. the reason why Maximus said to Lucilla at the end that Lucius is safe is because of their conversation they had earlier in the movie where he said his son was innocent and she said so is mine. So if he were safe then why would he need to be sent away.. thats kinda like the double order in A Few Good Men where there was an order that Santiago was not to be touched yet they were flying him home anyway.. yes Denzel stood out and thats because he was the only one who talked normally... no accent no nothing.. so to me he stood out alright.. like a sore thumb. I love Denzel.. but he did not belong in that movie. And Carly said it hurt her heart to see Denzel be evil.. Im guessing she either hasnt seen Training Day or forgot about that movie. I was entertained by this movie but it was a total unnecessary legacy sequel. This movie definitely was a retelling of the 1st one.. there were some minor differences.. but pretty much a carbon copy.. just not as good. Im glad you two liked it...

Edward korstanje

I think the idea of the added gore was to emphasize the true brutality of how Rome really was.

Clay F

I liked the movie and give it a 7.5/10 rating for my tastes. While there is a vocal minority of highly negative reviews, the movie generally gets decent reviews. 190,000 users at IMDb give it an average rating of 6.6 Gladiator II (2024) IMDb 6.6, Metacritic 64%, RT 71% (audience 82%) Compare to Gladiator (2000) (awesome movie) IMDb 8.5, Metacritic 67%, RT 80% (audience 87%)

Clay F
>>163409349

Philip, as we discussed in the Extra Butter chat, I would be ok with her reacting to the Burton 2001 remake, but would also go along with a consensus to skip. As you saw in the live, Cassie did show an interest in the 2001 remake based on her friend liking it. IMDb 6.6, Metacritic 64%, RT 71% (audience 82%) = Gladiator II (2024) IMDb 5.7, Metacritic 50%, RT 43% (audience 27%) = 2001 remake

Justtired

I wanted to like this film, but I must, respectfully, disagree. This was not good. At no time did I feel the emotional connection to the story like the first. The stars tried very hard, but the story just wasn’t there. The basic idea was ok. Its execution was quite poor. Gladiator did not need a sequel. The success of Top Gun: Maverick has emboldened Hollywood to create follow up films decades after the original. At least that film had story and heart. Sadly, I think we are going to continue getting mediocre stories like this. I think I may sound more upset than I really am. 🤣 We don’t always have to agree. I enjoyed your reaction. You’re both so honest, passionate and true to yourselves. I look forward to the next one.

Gray

Made it halfway and gave up, this was rubbish. Can't believe it was Ridley Scott who made it, felt more like a TV movie.

Doug Fisher

Sharks in the Colosseum...that pretty much sums it all up. Nothing like a sequel that taints the original. Trash, cash grab movie! SMH Does he not like Denzel or something?! XD Ridley needs to retire or at least stick to original projects, since all of his sequel movies suck... "Alien" great: "Prometheus" & "Covenant" not good; "Blade Runner" awesome: "2049" awful (though TBF he was only EP on that one); "Gladiator" stunning: "Gladiator II" dumpster fire. Or... maybe he should just stick to making movies with Russell Crowe since "Gladiator", "A Good Year", "Robin Hood", "American Gangster", and "Body of Lies" are all great or at least good. Though, that probably has as much to do with Crowe than anything else.

Doug Fisher
>>163999302

All of the old greats are losing their touch. Spielberg is no different. I think the only one that is still getting better is Eastwood.

Doug Fisher
>>163606681

I doesn't hint that they landed a chariot on the moon either. Dude... you are reaching soooo hard! No, they were not together while she was married, they were together when they were young. I guess you missed the part (the whole movie actually) where Maximus is an HONORABLE man in the original huh?! Sleeping with another man's wife is NOT honorable.

Doug Fisher
>>163519022

Yeah... not good at all. Besides your accurate summations, the Protagonists "revenge" motivation is so weak. Not to mention the fact that he bounces all over the place emotionally about it the whole movie. The lead was not good in this movie and it is not a good movie to begin with.

Doug Fisher
>>163653817

You make great points but I would add that it is more than just a reaction to "Top Gun: Maverick". Hollywood has been milking or "IP mining" for over a decade now; as they are creatively bankrupt. Just have a look at yearly release schedules... like 95% of them are sequels, prequels, or reboots. They have no idea how to develop new stories.

Justtired
>>163653817

I totally agree. Hollywood uses its few successes as a reason to continue the trend.

Jason Henderson

A great effort! hard to live up to the first. Connie Nielsen is absolutely stunning!

Joe D. MacGuffinstuff

I have a theory about Denzel's character, I like to think he may have been a Barca, the family of Carthaginian (North African) generals that Hannibal was from. Hannibal Barca was an amazingly brilliant general who as a boy took an oath to never stop fighting Rome until they were defeated. And for a time he was known as the Scourge of Rome , he killed a lot of Romans, especially at the Battle of Cannae, which was a stroke of strategic genius and an absolute massacre, Rome's largest army ever assembled at the time was killed almost to the last man. I feel like the somewhat subtle hint is that Hannibal's nephew was named Hanno, coincidence? And I know some people will get mad and say "but Hannibal wasn't black," whether he was or not I don't know or care, it doesn't mean one of his descendants wouldn't have been. Hope that's not too controversial, not trying to start a fight lol and honestly it's probably not true, I just think it's fun to speculate. All in all I liked the movie, okay maybe not as good as the first but still a movie I'll watch again for sure.

Jonathan Morerod

If you put this movie by itself, it's a good action movie with great production. Put it next to the original, and it's nowhere close.

Myth Oceanas

Basically they tried to do a lot with to many characters. And this felt less about the actual gladiators and more to do with the politics of this fictitious version of Rome. Also they paint the Nubians weirdly, as they were also conquers who even conquered Egypt at one point. And at one point did fight Rome but they weren’t just sitting there minding their own business and Rome attacked them. The first movie played with Roman history a bit but this one just butchered it.

Dean Holt

Finally getting around to watching this and it all just felt like a poor remake of the first film rather that a sequel. As it had pretty much the same storyline but the characters other than Denzel all just felt weaker especially Paul Mescal when he did the speeches. Just thought he was miss cast. Also felt it should have been about 20 minutes shorter as I just couldn’t wait for it to finish.