Gladiator 2 First Reactions Claim It to Be the Perfect Sequel

Gladiator is making a comeback with a sequel next month with Gladiator II releasing 24 years after the first Oscar winner. Once again, directed by Ridley Scott, this movie revolves around Maximus’ son, played by Paul Mescal. So, on Friday night, the early screening of Gladiator 2 was done at New York Comic-Con 2024 for critics, and as it turns out, the majority of reviews turned out to be positive, with some even saying that Gladiator 2 deserves an Oscar.

Gladiator II Early Reactions Praise It Highly

With its release scheduled on November 22, 2024, Gladiator 2 is one of the most anticipated movies of this year. The early reviews for Gladiator 2 have made the hype for this upcoming movie even more as the majority of critics have painted the movie in an extremely positive light. For instance, Journalist Scott Mantz called Gladiator 2 Ripley Scott’s best movie since The Martian. In his first impressions posted on X, he says-

“Gladiator II is Ridley Scott’s best film since The Martian. A big, bloody and bad ass action spectacle that builds upon the legacy of the original. The film showcases beautiful set pieces and a lot of epic battles. Paul Mescal shines. Denzel Washington chews up the scenery quite a bit here and looks like he is having the time of his life here” – Scott Mantz

Senior Writer from The Wrap, Drew Taylor also praised Gladiator 2 and appreciated how it embraced the new while also living up to its predecessor.

“Rest easy, Romans. Gladiator 2 is the kind of large scale filmmaking excellence only Ridley Scott could corral. Everything about it just works. Big Maverick vibes in its ability to conjure the past while adding something new. Bold, muscular filmmaking from a legendary talent.” – Drew Taylor

The Variety’s Clayton Davis says Gladiator II is Ridley Scott’s “best directorial effort since Black Hawk Down.” He says Denzel Washington is having the time of his life in one of his most killer roles yet and deserves an Oscar for it.

However, not everyone’s outlook was completely positive regarding this sequel which is evident by how critic Abe Friedtanzer said that Gladiator 2 is a rather unnecessary sequel but is still a decent watch. In his X post, he mentions-

“‘Gladiator 2’ is a decent but unnecessary sequel, full of big speeches & large-scale battle sequences. Its best moments are musical callbacks to the original. Paul Mescal has solid fighting energy but the standouts of the cast are Joseph Quinn & Denzel Washington.”

With all of these comments mentioned above, it is pretty obvious that Gladiator 2 is turning out to be better than a lot of us expected it to be. When the trailer for this movie was released a lot of people were skeptical of it but with these early reactions and reviews, it is safe to say that we can consider spending our money on Gladiator 2.