My first instinct and thought when hearing this film was being made was..... why?
The original is and always should be seen as the masterpiece it is and we all know that sequels are, more often than not, a disappointment which never live up to the original and for the most part that trend continues with gladiator 2.
Having just watched the film I found myself torn at several points as to whether I thought this sequel was a good or a bad idea.
Nothing should be taken away from the performance of Paul Mescal as I have to be fair to him and say that his performance was more than decent and Denzel Washington, although playing himself as usual, was as magnetic as ever. The story wasn't a bad idea either and had a good enough premise to have been a great film had it been a standalone film and not the sequel to one of the greatest movies of the 2000s.
Some of the set pieces were visually great and brought back some memories of the original but it never really felt like much more than an attempt to try to recapture and reproduce the magic and spectacle of the much better and much more loved film that Ridley treated us to over 20 years ago.
I can't give it 5 stars because it so far from deserving it but I can't give it 1 star because it's no 'snakes on a plane'. I have to be fair and see some of the positives in which was quite a messy story at points but well acted on the other hand.
There is a possibility that adding the star power of Denzel and Pedro added a little shine that, if they had not been present, would've not been there but even they didn't drag up the standard of the film. The people who created this were relying on pure nostalgia and curiosity to sell the film and they will no doubt make damn good money from this but make no mistake that this movie will always live firmly in the shadow of it's epic predecessor.