Ridley Scott’s latest epic, Gladiator II, has received generally favourable reviews across the board ahead of its opening weekend, although it does not seem to have hit the heights of its predecessor.
The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and the BBC all awarded the Gladiator sequel four out of five stars, while online portals Screen Rant and IGN rated the film eight out of ten – comparable to four stars.
US newspapers The Seattle Times and San Francisco Chronicle were more gushing in their appraisals, giving the film 3.5 stars out of four, and three out of four stars respectively.
The Financial Times and Irish Independent appeared satisfied with the sequel, awarding three stars out of five, but the Irish Times was less kind, rating the film two out of five stars.
While most reviewers seemed confident director Ridley Scott had delivered another blockbuster, they seemed to question whether the film lived up to the first.
Most had good words to say about the cast, with Denzel Washington and leading man Paul Mescal coming in for particular praise.
Released almost 25 years after the first film, Gladiator II will take audiences back to the bloody sands of the Roman arenas.
The sequel, which was largely shot in Malta, welcomes well-known actors Washington, Connie Nielsen and Pedro Pascal and comparatively new faces Mescal, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger.
While some first reactions to the film surfaced online after an advance screening in Los Angeles last month, full-length reviews were embargoed until Monday.
Ridley Scott (L) returned to Malta to direct Gladiator 2. Photo: Paramount Pictures UK.The Guardian said, leading man Mescal “slays in Ridley Scott’s gobsmacking reboot”, while the Daily Mail described the film as "falling short of its masterpiece predecessor but still heaps of farfetched and ferocious fun.”
Across the pond The Hollywood Reporter seemed to concur, highlighting “Paul Mescal and a Scene-Stealing Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott’s Entertaining but Imitative Sequel”.
The Daily Telegraph called Gladiator II “the year’s most relentlessly entertaining blockbuster,” but said moviegoers would “miss Russel Crowe.”
Variety magazine, meanwhile, described the film as “Ridley Scott’s serviceable but far from great sequel” while The London Times called it a “dreary... sequel.”
Despite the criticism, most reviewers seemed to agree on the film’s “epic” credentials, pointing to grandiose visuals, ramped-up action sequences and “immaculate stunt work”.
And some seemed overjoyed by the experience, describing themselves as being "entertained again by [this] outrageous sequel” (USA Today) and “thoroughly entertained by Ridley Scott's blingy bloody epic” (The Daily Express).
Some reviewers took a more thoughtful approach, pointing to contemporary cultural themes, with online portals Mashable describing Scott as “grappling with modern masculinity in ancient Rome” and Vulture saying “men deserve better than Gladiator II.”
For many, however, such assessments may be taking a step too far into the arena, and may agreed with the BBC that the film is, “by far the best popcorn film of the year”.
Gladiator II opens in Malta on Friday.