Gladiator II

"The opening battle scene was impressive and I had hoped it would be an indication that the whole movie would be as good, but I was actually disappointed. For this sequel, it is possible to have too much of a good thing. More characters, more exotic animals, more outlandish action sequences was all too much. In fact, the whole scene with the ships inside the flooded coliseum with the sharks was ridiculously unrealistic. They would never pick up enough momentum to smash into the other ship with just oars. It literally made me roll my eyes. I will say that the two young emperors were very easy to hate, so that's a plus. But I felt that Paul Mescal doesn't have enough machismo, or star power or whatever you would like to call it, to carry the lead role. Perhaps that's why they decided to cast Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington, to double down. But Denzel, even though he's a great actor, was totally out of place in this movie. If you're a fan of the first movie, then you may be disappointed in this sequel, as I was. 6/10"

"Doesn’t beat the first by a long shot but still a very fun watch. "

"I’m really trying my hardest not to turn into a grumpy old man. It’s an ongoing struggle. As part of that, I try not to complain about stuff too much, especially on the internet. But man. I mean, come on. Nope, nada. Ridley is a first ballot hall of famer. But this?"

"Nicely done! "

"This whole movie at 2 hours and 39 minutes seemed somehow rushed ..the fight scenes were grand and dramatic. The cast of course was stellar but realizing who the gladiator actually was (came to me in the middle of the movie) this could have been written better and the focus be more on him. The water colleseum scene was over top but I really loved it. Come there was sharks! I do believe Denzel Washington was a bit miscast for this. An amazing actor really acting his hutt off but just in the wrong vehicle. Pedro was a bit too. Entertaining film but not as good as the first one."

"Even though this movie was good they should’ve left well enough alone. I like the first one better."

" Almost as good as the original until it gets a bit goofy towards the end."

"Extremely boring. Writing this as the movie is still going. Spoilers: Quinn being gutted was disturbing. Also what on earth is with those wigs. Quinn is gay or bi or something he has to have better taste than that. "

"The editing was weird and lacking suspense. "

"Amazing movie and I loved it almost as much I loved the first one. And as much as I adore the actor, I disagree with critics in that Denzel Washington was behind the success of this movie. He was not. The movie including the incredible acting of the maniacal twin emperors was just superb. My only take was I would have liked a stronger voiced Gladiator and character in this one when compared to Russel Crowe but I guess Lucius was always a protected child so maybe we should expect a soft spoken character. That was the only let down in my mind. "