25 years of Gladiator: why it was so important at the time… and why the sequel has not pleased anyone

On May 5, 2000, a Roman war shook theaters around the world. At a time when The Lord of the Rings was still a milestone to achieve and the great blockbuster had been set aside for films of other genres like thrillers, Ridley Scott proved once again that Alien and Blade Runner were not a coincidence.

With Gladiator, Scott pulled a classic story out of his hat with a modern wrapper, a grand production that seemed to come straight from golden Hollywood but spoke powerfully to the audience of the new millennium. It was not only a box office hit that welcomed the new century with open arms. It was also a punch on the table that reminded us that epic cinema, if made with heart and grit, could still move us.

Gladiator marked an era with which Gladiator II has ended

With an Oscar success almost unmatched until then, and a production design that influenced major later hits like 300, Troy, or Alexander, Gladiator became an instant classic. Russell Crowe became an almost mythical figure. He was not only Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the northern armies, general of the Phoenix legions, and loyal servant of the true emperor Marcus Aurelius. He was also the new hero of a generation coming from the 90s looking for something more than special effects and marketing slogans.

As digital cinema arrived with force and made it clear that everything we were going to see from that moment on was much more similar to Matrix than to Centaurs of the Desert, Scott said “I won’t go that way.” And, well, he delighted us with a film that even today remains a must-see every time it airs again on TV.

Twenty-five years have passed since then. A quarter of a century in which cinema has changed as much as we have. Now Greek myths are not as fashionable as superheroes (and, in fact, they are also starting to fade a bit). But, unfortunately, we cannot proudly celebrate the 25th anniversary of Gladiator. Why? Because there is something called “Gladiator 2”.

Released on November 15, 2024, Gladiator 2 aimed to be a late sequel worthy of the circumstances. It wanted to take the original story and follow it through Lucius Verus, the son of Maximus, who was left pending in the original film as a future hero to be explored. It seemed to have everything to be a hit: from a huge budget to the most interesting stars of the moment, from Paul Mescal to Pedro Pascal, including Joseph Quinn and, of course, Denzel Washington.

However, Ridley Scott has been showing for years that he is no longer the same. Normal, at 87 years old, it doesn’t even make sense for him to continue directing epic films like this one. But one must know when to step aside or simply leave things as they are. And after the failure of Napoleon, perhaps it was not the right time to take on the most important film of your career and carry out a sequel that nobody asked for.

In the end, it’s not that Gladiator 2 is an absolute disaster. It has production value, actors who are not too bad (although, honestly, Paul Mescal doesn’t fit that role at all) and scenes that are on par. I mean, it even has a naval battle pulled out of nowhere inside the Coliseum. Overall, it should have been able to meet at least a minimal standard.

But cinema is not about sharks and rhinoceroses (unless we’re talking about a documentary). It’s about emotion, and that’s exactly what happens with Gladiator 2. Here, the emotion is contrived, with a script that doesn’t make much sense, pushed to the limit to reach the epic scenes. The lines desperately try to be epic, but they only end up sounding like a copy. And today’s viewer notices that.

The most curious thing is that Gladiator 2 does not fail due to excessive ambition, but out of fear. Out of fear of breaking with the legacy of the original. Out of fear of building something new without the scaffolding of memory. Instead of presenting us with a new conflict that shakes us, it becomes obsessed with repeating the formula: betrayed protagonist, power struggle, Roman circus, redemption. But without a Maximus, without that wounded gaze of Crowe that broke your soul, everything remains just a wrapper. And even the presence of powerful actors like Denzel Washington fails to ignite the spark.

For a few years now, we have gotten used to the idea that all great movies must have a remake, a late sequel, or a spin-off. And look, no. Sometimes we shouldn’t focus so much on what was and try new things. Because Ridley Scott has the potential to do it, and sometimes he succeeds as well as he did with The Last Duel.

But it is already late. Now we celebrate the 25th anniversary of Gladiator at half-mast. Because the very director of the original has betrayed it. Of course, Maximus Meridius will always remain in our memory… but now his memory is somewhat blurrier. Gladiator was so complete that it never needed a sequel. It had a closed, perfect, even poetic ending. Reopening that tomb has only served to remind us why we left it untouched for 25 years. Because deep down, we knew that no one could take Maximus’s place. Neither on the throne of Rome nor in our memory. Ridley, thank you for trying. But there are battles that were already won before they were fought.