GLADIATOR II // MOVIE REVIEW

Growing up, if there is a particular genre of movie I always love watching, it is definitely action movies that have exciting scenes. I remember watching Gladiator 1 a couple of years ago, I must confess that till now it still remains one of my favourite ancient action movies I have watched. Well there is also a second one that I believe come close to Gladiator and that is 300 hero of Sparta. But in my own case I still prefer Gladiator much more that 300 Hero of Sparta and one of the reason I will say I actually prefer it is because of the storyline.

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Well enough of that talk about Gladiator 1. After hearing that there will be Gladiator 2. I was super excited because I definitely knew that the Gladiator 1 was so entertaining and I have strong anticipation for the Gladiator 2. A lot was actually running through my mind when I discovered that they will be producing The 2nd edition and one of the questions was the fact that they will still were able to hit the standard of Gladiator 1. Well I checked it out and I must confess that even though it was a great movie no doubt about that, in my own personal observation, Gladiator 2 did not meet the standard of Gladiator 1.

Unlike the 1st edition, the second edition story centers around Lucius(Paul Mescal). The way the story was described, he has fully grown up to be a man unlike the Gladiator 1 when he was still a young boy. The story center around Lucius who grew up in a very rough environment around him as he was under the great gladiator who finally saved his family.

Majorly, I will say Gladiator 2 focuses much more on revenge and one of the lessons I was actually able to pick from the 2nd edition is the fact that anything we know we should do most especially when it is the right thing, we should definitely do it no matter the obstacles that might want to rise up against us doing it.

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Talking about the acting role because one of the things I make sure I do whenever I watch any movie is to pay close attention to the acting role of the different characters in a particular movie. For Paul Mescal which is called Lucius in that movie, he definitely did a perfect job in executing his role out perfectly.

If you should pay attention to the movie while watching, Lucius tried to express his pain and struggles according to the storyline and I must say he did a perfect job on that. There are also actors that I noticed which did their role perfectly. Actors like Denzel Washington, Pendro Pascal and Connie Nielsen. They all make sure they play out their role effectively. Well even though I wish lucilla appeared more often in the movie than the role they gave her in the Gladiator 2.

The action in the movie is power packed and fills in the necessary demand for any action movie most especially when it has this ancient tone. Though I still believe there are roles to actually work upon. One of the things I actually noticed while watching the movie is the fact that whenever those gladiators are fighting, they always do with so much excitement written in their very eyes. It looks like they enjoyed doing this for a living. Kind of like they saw fighting as gladiator as their lifestyle and that makes it super real.

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As a Nigerian who grew up listening to several issues happening to people, watching the movie, I was definitely able to draw out lots of messages from that movie. First is what I said earlier, one of the profound lessons I was able to pick is anything that should be done rightly should be done irrespective of the obstacles or hindrances that might want to come against it.

Not only that the leadership system play out in the Gladiator 2 is very much relatable to my country leadership system Nigeria. The leadership system is filled with a lot of betrayal and envy and I can fully understand because that is just how Nigeria's political system is. At the end of the movie, I was actually able to see the need for us to always have a good leader in our nation. Good leaders that will not be afraid to stand up against falsehood and stand for truth and what is right.

I have been talking about the positive side of the movie since morning, well I also believe there are some aspects the producer or director of the movie should work upon. Don't get me wrong, the movie is good and it is fun to watch but I don't find it quite emotional compared to Gladiator 1. Well probably that might be the way they want it to be based on the storyline.

Not only that, there are some scenes in that movie that are too slow for me. It kind of makes me look like I was watching an Indian movie. There are some scenes that were slow and unnecessary, especially when the scene is involved in the political scene. I believe the movie is known primarily for action and so the scene should be action packed also.

Rating: 6/10

I know this rating might seem so harsh but that is just the truth. But I will still recommend that anyone should watch the movie.

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