K Hill

Spoilers: This entire movie poorly copied the winning formula of Gladiator. The list of missteps in the storyline gave Denzel his full 2+ hours and just didn't work. There is no audience investment in the characters. The climatic leadership moment happens in the last five minutes and needed to happen an hour earlier to marshal the troops. The end needed to be Lucius leading the army that failed Maximus, avenging him. The Roman world needed to know Lucius's parentage and heir status far earlier so he could stop being a gladiator and show the audience he could lead. The bad guys were cloned yet inferior to Joaquim. The whole "killing of more animals" plotline has been done to exhaustion and no one wants to see that anymore. We get it. Beautiful animals were tortured and killed in Rome. Stop capitalizing on that and stick with human drama. ...and sorry, Maximus was "Husband to a murdered wife. Father to a murdered son." Lucius might have been a real historic Emperor but making him the precious heir of Maximus diminished the very vengeful and satisfying spirit of Gladiator. Live on Russel Crowe and don't expect the same vibes in Glad II. Actually, we were so frustrated and unmoved with Glad II we immediately rewatched Gladiator to cleanse our pallet. That movie remains truly epic.