David Mehlhorn

Gladiator is probably my favourite movie. The acting, cinematography, storytelling, and the unforgettable musical score make it a modern classic. I’ve watched it countless times and will no doubt rewatch it again in the future. However, it was with some trepidation that I downloaded Gladiator 2 to watch. The reason being that with very few exceptions, sequels are always far poorer than the original, and in this case, this proved to be depressingly so. While Gladiator was an epic in every sense, the sequel appears to be a “made for tv” movie with a rushed introduction, comical villains that are a pale shadow of Commodus, wooden acting, cheap looking sets and a storyline that is boring and predictable. The movie simply does not come within a million miles of the emotional impact of the original and I was quite frankly equally bored and angry that this movie somewhat takes from the first movies sad but glorious ending. As Maximus said in the first movie “Are you not entertained?” Well with Gladiator 2, I most definitely was not. I just have to convince myself that this sequel doesn’t exist so I can continue to enjoy the original.