Oh dear…. I LOVE the first movie and despite no one asking for this sequel some 20 years on, I was pretty excited to watch and wanted to enjoy this movie.
Here’s what I didn’t like about it…
The CGI is terrible. It’s like a TV shows CGI not the sequel to one of the most beloved movies of a generation.
The dialogue is absolutely horrendous.
The acting is poor and the character development (Denzel aside) is just awful. I didn’t feel anything for any character in this movie. I didn’t care if they won or lost, lived or died. I could not have cared less… so much so I don’t even remember the “new” characters names. None of them made me angry or hate them or want them to get their comeuppance and I wasn’t rooting for anyone either! The first movies characters made me cry!
I know the characters wouldn’t have English accents but for some reason I accept that… what I can’t get over is Denzel’s character having a New York accent!!!
There’s loads of throwbacks to and or lines used from the original… all of which are awful, cheesy and made me angry when they cropped up.
I’m confused now as to if they are now saying Maximus was indeed Lucius father… I think they’re saying he was just the “closest thing he had” but if they are suggesting he did sire Lucius then that completely shi…poos on maximus’ character and what he stood for and now he’s done a Dave Grohl…? What a bar steward!
There’s also a scene where maximus’ old attire is hung up on the wall like some sort of gladiatorial Hard Rock Cafe…nahhhh
Oh and for British viewers Matt Lucas showing up completely took me out of it!
How this movie has decent RT scores is beyond me… if you would have told me this had been straight to Netflix I would have believed you.