For fans of the Gladiator movie, we’ve waited 24 years for a follow up movie. Finally, we got it. I think some of us are wishing maybe we could’ve waited one more year for it to get polished up a bit. Still, with a lot of issues, I still enjoyed the movie. Some of it seemed thrown together and rushed, but it was a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
In Gladiator 2, Lucius, played by Paul Mescal, the son of Maximus from the first movie, finds his way in the Coliseum. If you remember the first movie, we see a little boy that watches Maximus fight and the two have an interest in one another. Gladiator 2 explores their relationship a bit more. I don’t want to spoil the movie, so I’ll just say the story is about Lucius battling his way through gladiators to achieve his ultimate goal and it’s not just to stay alive.
Connie Nielson is back as Lucilla, who was in the first Gladiator film. Other stars include Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Henchinger. The cast is stacked. Washington and Pascal are great as always, but for me, Quinn and Henchinger as the twin emperors, steal every scene they are in. I’m sure the director, Ridley Scott, expected his film to get a bunch of Oscar buzz for the movie and the stars, but I’m not sure if that’s going to happen. I think they wanted it to be a great Oscar worthy movie like the first film, but this one is more of a blockbuster action film that is to be taken for what it is.
But let’s get to the reason you are reading this story. Is Gladiator 2 appropriate for kids?
Gladiator 2 is rated R for strong bloody violence. There’s no sex or nudity, but there are a few innuendos. There are a couple of curse words, but nothing major. There is plenty of graphic, bloody violence. The violence is up close and everything is seen. People are sliced open, limbs cut off, heads separated from bodies, and you probably get the picture. If you’ve seen the first movie, this one ups the violence even more. My little ones are going to skip this one.
