We start with a universally loved action movie, it even somehow won Best Picture (despite my would-be vote for
Wonder Boys). Wanting to make another one is normal. The death of the protagonist is only a small obstacle by Hollywood standards. After 20 years, your lead actor is not a candidate for a prequel. So you decide to make the movie anyway, and you also decide to basically make the same movie again. Also not uncommon.
Just don't expect it to be good. Very little to appreciate: Connie Nielsen looks like she has barely aged in the last 24 years. The doctor who mends Mescal's wounds is notable for how he underplays. Reminded me a lot of the doctor who works with Tony Stark in the cave in the first
Iron Man movie. Denzel Washington is the only fun part of the movie, the rest is incoherent. Paul Mescal's speeches are so rote, I can't imagine a person saying that stuff.
Special Commendation for the first gladiator battle- slaves versus what I think are supposed to be baboons? They're all-CGI, they look like hairless dogs with simian heads whose jaws open twice as far as looks natural. They are so unconvincing as a species that exists on Earth, that when they emerged into the coliseum, totally spontaneously, I said "what the fuck is this" out loud. I've never done that before. I would have loved it if Ridley Scott decided to actually put aliens in this movie, instead of pretending there's anything historical going on here. A gonzo Aliens In Ancient Rome movie would have been more fun and equally faithful to history. The moment where a senator peruses a newspaper over breakfast is a Mel Brooks-level joke.
