Gladiator 2 - anyone else looking forward to?

[tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz]

Just watching the original. Such. An. Incredible. Film.

Dodgy CGI aside it's just so good. I watch it every year and still cry at "Go to them " at the end .

Booed tickets for the new one and have told myself not to compare just try to enjoy it as a stand alone film.

Anyone else?

And good lord. RC is just so immensely fit in it

I went to see Gladiator 2 yesterday, and absolutely loved it. The running time of almost 2.5 hours flew by.

I thought DW and the two actors playing the young emporers were the standout performers. PM was good, and certainly looks the part, but he doesn’t have the gruff voice of Russell Crowe, so he didn’t quite work for me as a Roman gladiator. But he was great in Normal People, and similar roles.

The costumes and visual effects will no doubt win awards, rightly so. Plus a hatful of other Oscar nominations wouldn’t be at all surprising.

We saw it in IMAX. Loved it - great entertainment. There was an air of decadence brought to it by the make up of some of the characters especially the emperors. As for my fave Denzel well hot , hot, hot! I had my doubts about Paul Mescal but he did it for me. He looks older. I was reading about his training schedule and the aim was to create a fighting body as opposed to totally muscle bound. Took a year. Was just looking again at the scenes they built in Malta for it - amazing!

Saw it yesterday and bloody loved it. May even go again. Just fantastic.

Saw it yesterday. Loved it. It romped along

Although I did try hard to suppress the giggles when every time Matt Lucas appeared onscreen as I couldn’t help being reminded of George Dawes in Shooting Stars 😂

Yes 😂

Saw it today.

Agree with a pp that it looked great visually but I didn't feel roused by it like I did the first film. There wasn't a coherent story and motivations felt quite shallow if that makes sense? It all just felt like it was meandering along.

And I wanted to grown inwardly at the flat speeches and references to previous dialogue. Also surprised they weren't able to CGI originals young Lucias in to his kid scenes.

Denzel was great to watch as ever. What a beautiful man

Actually yes he was hilarious! Brilliantly camp

3/5 for me too. Thought the animal selections just looked beyond ridiculous and Mescal decent but not RC’s charisma (made worse by some of it being such a copy, I.e. when he was ‘rousing his toops’).

Full marks to Denzel, though.

I absolutely loved it!! 10/10! I'd have watched the whole thing over again straight after if it wasn't so late!!

The little emperor fella looked like Ed Sheeran which was distracting

I saw this yesterday and loved it! The time flew by and I actually thought Paul Mescal was really good. Comparisons to Russel are inevitable but Paul played his character well I thought.

I’ll definitely watch it again when it’s on TV. Would definitely recommend it. We re watched the first one a couple of weeks ago which definitely helped with the story line!

I'm going to watch the original again as it's years since I saw it !

It is said that comparison is the thief of joy but comparisons of a film and its precursor are inevitable.

The terrible twins were not a patch on Joaquin Phoenix and PM was a shadow of RC.

For me, it was ok but I can’t see it standing the test of time in the way that the original has.

I'm in the thumbs-down camp. It was meh.

Been reflecting and I think part of what made the first so good was the beginning when you saw the fatherly love Marcus A had for Maximus and then the heart breaking rejection of Commodus which fuelled his anger and made the dynamic between him and Maximus so personal, I think this was as strong as love. The second missed that epic theme of betrayal. Yes, Lucius lost his wife but somehow it didn't feel as bad, it was almost just plonked in early doors as a way to give him motive to kill the general fella. Also I love Connie Nielsen but her death moment was disappointingly panto loved her hair, make up and costumes though. What a beautiful lady she is.

Ultimately, I still get a lump in my throat at the end of 1 when Lucille says "Go to them". And then the happy tears follow when his friend buries the figurines in the sand and says they will meet again but not yet (or similar). I'm still a snivelling wreck when I watch it.

I had no lump or tears so that's how I know it's gong to be a forgetful one for me. Plus that "speak to me father" moment at the end of 2 felt like a copy of the above.

I did enjoy my cinema snacks though.

Yep, enjoyed my pre film meal!

I am going this weekend, really looking forward to it.
I hope its as camp and over the top as I am expecting

I've been having a think since a couple of weeks ago and we went to see Paddington 3 and my boss was quite gleeful saying it's got terrible reviews. I said have they actually watched the film. We loved it. We loved Gladiator 2 as well and she announced the same with that.
I feel people/film reviewers these days like to slate things so much people go in with low expectations.
Are we so used to constant slick productions on streaming services that epic films are just common place.
I thought the effects in Gladiator 2 were spectacular like the views of the Colloseum etc
I loved Ridley Scott's Napoleon last year and that got slated. His answer to the critics was "Get a life.". I guess he can afford to have that attitude after his long career.
Anyway Wicked this week - can't wait!

I thought Paddington 3 was woeful, as did the pack of 12 year olds I escorted — it had none of the charm or cleverness of the first two. (When you choose a setting that means you can’t have London or most of the excellent supporting cast from the first films, and you’ve lost your original Mrs Brown, you need to do something very good with your new scenario and have an excellent scripts, not just hire Olivia Colman and Antonio Banderas and then not give them much to work with…)

Can I ask those who’ve seen Gladiator 2 whether it’s gorier than Gladiator.?

I want to watch the first film again beforehand. I can’t find it on streaming platforms . Have I missed it somehow?

I saw it on Tuesday and really enjoyed it. I definitely missed Maximus's brooding and growling and smouldering. Denzel was well fit. Pedro was maybe a bit confined. The emperor brothers were interesting savages. Enjoyed seeing the character of Lucilla (?) fleshed out.

So, a previous poster, a Dear Wife, and the Prime Minister are all mentioned here 😄

Haha!

Ah yes I do love the original Mrs Brown but she has been very busy elsewhere digging car parks up and finding Richard 111.