The CGI was at best "video game" level. Overall disappointing. It was more or less a "Force awakens" type of re-hash of the original. Also, several "borrowed" elements from Spartacus.
Gladiator II trailer
- Thread starter dahliaclone
- Start date
I saw it opening weekend and I personally really enjoyed it. Honestly IMO it's hard to oversensationalize anything involving even indirectly gladiators.
Meh.
It was entertaining for 2+ hours. It's not bad. But it's nowhere near the original.
The characters and plot are derivative of without the tightness of the original. The performances are fine, and Denzel Washington (undoubtedly one of the finest actors of his or any generation) and expanding the role played by Oliver Reed in the original did inject a slight bit of intrigue into the Third Act.
The action scenes just aren't as rousing or as tightly executed or edited. There's way more CGI when the original made its bones with practical effects. I didn't mind the sea battles in the Coliseum (which historically happened and sound cool!) or mixing up the forest/snow battle from the beginning of the first in Germany with the exact "opposite" biome with desert/ocean in Africa here. It just wasn't executed as well.
It misses Han Zimmer. The score makes Gladiator what it is.
It was not nearly as bad as The Force Awakens, but it has a similar problem trying to undo the plot of the first film to "reset" the politics to familiar ground. The end of Gladiator has Maximus sacrifice himself so that Rome might again become a republic and be governed by decent and competent men like Senator Gracchus instead of nutjobs like Commodus. But then this one starts and... two new nutjobs are in charge again.
...what happened?
I know historically there was another civil war culminating in the victorious general declaring himself Emperor before his successors degenerated into insanity (sort of like what happened with Augustus' dynasty with Caligula and Nero and the Flavian/"Good Emperors" dynasty with Commodus) but the film doesn't show us.
Not sad I went. Not sad it was made. Doesn't dishonor the original. Way better than Napoleon.
It was entertaining for 2+ hours. It's not bad. But it's nowhere near the original.
The characters and plot are derivative of without the tightness of the original. The performances are fine, and Denzel Washington (undoubtedly one of the finest actors of his or any generation) and expanding the role played by Oliver Reed in the original did inject a slight bit of intrigue into the Third Act.
The action scenes just aren't as rousing or as tightly executed or edited. There's way more CGI when the original made its bones with practical effects. I didn't mind the sea battles in the Coliseum (which historically happened and sound cool!) or mixing up the forest/snow battle from the beginning of the first in Germany with the exact "opposite" biome with desert/ocean in Africa here. It just wasn't executed as well.
It misses Han Zimmer. The score makes Gladiator what it is.
It was not nearly as bad as The Force Awakens, but it has a similar problem trying to undo the plot of the first film to "reset" the politics to familiar ground. The end of Gladiator has Maximus sacrifice himself so that Rome might again become a republic and be governed by decent and competent men like Senator Gracchus instead of nutjobs like Commodus. But then this one starts and... two new nutjobs are in charge again.
...what happened?
I know historically there was another civil war culminating in the victorious general declaring himself Emperor before his successors degenerated into insanity (sort of like what happened with Augustus' dynasty with Caligula and Nero and the Flavian/"Good Emperors" dynasty with Commodus) but the film doesn't show us.
Not sad I went. Not sad it was made. Doesn't dishonor the original. Way better than Napoleon.
Went to watch this last night.
- I thought the movie was a solid B
- First time going to the Palms in Waukee. Nice imax theater, but when did people start wearing pajamas to movies? Like grown adults wearing their PJ's. Over the last 10 years, I've only watched movies at Flix, so maybe I missed this trend. Is this a common thing? No problem with it, just seemed very odd.
