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Chris Gore and Alan Ng review “Gladiator II,” now playing in theaters.
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0:03
Gladiator
0:04
2 all right let's get into Gladiator
0:08
2 I did not love this film Allan you did
0:11
not love this film we did a non-spoiler
0:14
review this review will be filled with
0:18
spoilers
0:20
because they must be pointed
0:23
out and my God I I look wasn't as if I
0:30
had any high expectations for this movie
0:33
they were low and it didn't even reach
0:36
my low
0:38
expectations in particular and we will
0:41
talk about the end of the movie which
0:43
the audience I saw it with laughed I I
0:46
thought it was so
0:47
dumb it
0:50
was well I'll get into it later Allan
0:54
please wax for me or would you give me
0:56
your uh Now spoiler spoiler
1:01
thoughts on Gladiator 2 yeah
1:04
uh the the movie was just one misstep
1:08
after the next uh I think uh the the
1:12
thing that bothered me the most about
1:14
this movie was this constant reference
1:17
to the first movie Yes we talked about
1:20
it last time that it was basically the
1:23
opening credit sequence were scenes
1:25
animated scenes of the first movie and
1:28
then ire movie is just constant call
1:32
back call back call back call back to
1:34
that first movie when you're reminding
1:36
the audience the movie that this is a
1:38
sequel to was a better movie that's a
1:41
bad sign and that opening titles is what
1:44
killed it for me I I just sat there
1:46
going why are they showing these it
1:48
could have been AI that they did it with
1:51
I mean well I think it was yeah you know
1:53
it was just basically rotoscoping uh the
1:56
the original the the thing though is
1:59
that here I'm gonna make a guess about
2:01
the the behind the scenes I bet you they
2:06
were never intending to put scenes of
2:08
the original movie in it and then when
2:10
they got all the footage put together
2:12
they realized oh God we got to put
2:13
footage of the original movie in this
2:16
because yeah and the reason this the
2:18
reason this infuriates me is because the
2:22
the reason they brought in footage from
2:24
the first movie was to build Sympathy
2:26
for the main character 100% the only
2:29
reason
2:30
because they couldn't create Sympathy
2:32
for the for the main character uh
2:35
otherwise yeah and it's just cheap it I
2:39
mean this is this is uh storytelling at
2:42
its worst when you can't build sympathy
2:44
for a main character and you have to go
2:45
through other means to do it right and
2:48
then they had to go and and reveal this
2:53
connection and I'm gonna ruin it now the
2:57
lead the lead character Paul
3:01
uh Lucius he plays Lucius is the young
3:04
boy that was in the first movie
3:07
lucilla's uh son it's implied very
3:12
strongly that Lucilla and Maximus had an
3:15
affair which resulted in Lucius so
3:18
Lucius is the son of Maximus played by
3:23
Paul mcll as an adult now MH and somehow
3:26
she he was abandoned by her well she he
3:31
was sent off for safety sent off to
3:35
safety and he feels abandoned he joined
3:38
these so-called barbarians and kind of
3:41
you know uh uh you know just denied his
3:46
past and fought for the other the other
3:49
team so to speak and found himself in
3:52
this situation but that's the only
3:55
reason we should care the character of
3:57
Lucius is the son of the main character
4:00
from the last movie yeah well also shows
4:03
you by the way also shows you how I hate
4:06
to bring it back to Star Wars you you
4:08
tease me you bug me all the time like
4:11
like that I bring everything back to
4:13
Star Wars but I do so um it's like why
4:16
do we care about the Star Wars sequels
4:18
the girl the lead character of the Star
4:21
Wars sequels
4:23
Ray took took the Skywalker family name
4:27
as her name even even though she's the
4:30
granddaughter of the main villain of all
4:33
nine movies Emperor Palpatine the
4:37
granddaughter yeah and it feels like
4:39
that the sequels that was the moment
4:41
they were building to her declaration
4:44
there are no descendants or progyny of
4:48
the Skywalkers or the solos or princess
4:51
Le or anyone none of those characters
4:54
had um had had you know Sons or
4:57
daughters that could have continued
5:01
that's why I think the future of Star
5:03
Wars if talking about a a fourth Trilogy
5:06
is such a bad idea I don't think it'll
5:09
work I don't think people care enough
5:11
about Ry yeah but it was this constant
5:14
reminder that Lucius is the son of
5:16
Maximus right right so that so so that
5:19
you would care right but I'm saying in
5:21
Star Wars they screw that up I don't
5:24
care now what happens to the
5:26
granddaughter of the main villain so
5:29
this is like a a veil connection and I
5:32
thought it was so clumsily
5:36
handled um the way the explanation was
5:38
clumsily handled and it's meant to make
5:41
you care but I don't I I'm not I'm not
5:45
super I think Paul mcal is kind of
5:48
generic as an actor I don't think I mean
5:51
I like Pedro Pascal better than Paul
5:53
mcll yeah which is why you have to
5:54
constantly make connections with Lucius
5:57
and Maximus right exactly I I realize
5:59
Paul mcal wait Paul mcal and Pedro
6:02
Pascal their names rhyme Pascal uh mcalc
6:06
mcal mcel sounds like an alcohol
6:09
beverage just saying anyways yeah and
6:12
then and then it just becomes of it's
6:14
just a generic tale I mean I yeah you
6:17
know the the reason the only fights I
6:19
remember are the ones is the uh is the
6:23
mutant monkey fight which which is why
6:26
guess why I remember it and then the the
6:29
the shark battle Yeah but but but the
6:31
monkeys were so it was so fake looking
6:36
the way they fought it's I'll tell you
6:38
where it's like where the humans touch
6:40
the monkeys which are all fake it look
6:44
fake the Sharks looked fake it looked
6:47
like I mean it's not as bad as Sci-fi
6:49
channel right but it's in that direction
6:52
yeah the thing is is the monkeys uh the
6:55
monkeys they were mutant monkeys they
6:57
didn't look like monkeys they were they
6:59
were bread
7:00
to be Fighters and so it becomes a
7:02
cartoon and then the sharks they put
7:05
lasers on the top of the Sharks uh to uh
7:08
to fight the uh they actually did not
7:10
put lasers but they may as well have I
7:13
know exactly that scene just made no
7:15
sense to me it was
7:18
embarrassing yeah um and then you know
7:21
again I
7:23
I'll Lucius in the end it's like yeah
7:27
I'm I'm here to make Rome great again uh
7:29
I thought it was interesting that uh
7:33
that the Denzel Washington character was
7:36
he was basically ushering the ushering
7:38
in the fall of Rome I thought that was
7:40
an interesting idea but you don't
7:44
realize what he's doing until literally
7:46
the last Act of the film uh you know so
7:50
so this idea that he's plotting along
7:52
the way is never really uncovered or
7:54
revealed or you don't get the sense that
7:56
this is something significant until the
7:58
end of the movie you just you just get
8:00
the sense that he is a guy who's uh who
8:04
is getting his power through the emperor
8:07
to uh you know by by manipulating the
8:10
emperor and they did they did the Rocky
8:12
2
8:13
thing let me tell you so in Rocky one if
8:17
you ask people who won the fight at the
8:18
end of Rocky one will you think Rocky no
8:21
he didn't win he did not win Rocky did
8:25
not win he was defeated by Apollo Creed
8:29
but what did Rocky win at the end he
8:32
didn't win the fight he won respect
8:36
that's what makes Rocky a great great
8:39
Sports film one of the iconic movies and
8:43
then what they did
8:45
was they made a sequel to Rocky Rocky 2
8:49
which is basically the same movie except
8:52
what happens at the end Rocky wins the
8:55
the rematch with Apollo Creed he wins
9:00
that's what this is this is a remake of
9:03
the first Gladiator but instead of you
9:06
know Maximus died but he sort of won the
9:09
spirit of Rome right he won the respect
9:12
in this you know Paul mcel Lucius uh
9:17
wins it's it's Rocky 2 all over again
9:20
and let's talk about that final fight
9:23
with with
9:24
Denzel Allan it was laughable be honest
9:28
with you it was laughable and okay
9:32
spoilers uh you didn't like the mud pit
9:35
that they gets his hand cut off and it
9:39
looks dumb it looks so dumb he chops it
9:43
off and it's bleeding like in a you know
9:46
I just and then he tells him that he's
9:48
his father the audience thought with
9:51
laugh look I know there are are people
9:54
are friends of mine who actually really
9:55
like this film and and that's fine I
9:57
never I never begrudge people that have
10:01
a different opinion than I I mean I I
10:04
like talking to people that have
10:06
different opinions that's why I think
10:07
you and I are such good friends I
10:09
respect your opinion even though when we
10:12
differ I think we're we're aligned on on
10:14
this for sure I think but um wow this
10:18
just that when the ending is so weak
10:21
like that but this is the Rocky 2 of
10:23
Gladiator 2 movies if that if that makes
10:26
sense yeah the the other moment that
10:30
that stood out to me was you know
10:32
because in the first movie uh Maximus
10:33
grabs a handful of dirt you know and
10:36
when he does that it's meaningful you
10:38
know it's you know there's you get the
10:41
gravity of why he does that and of
10:42
course they have to repeat it here yeah
10:44
and and it's done to create a smoke
10:47
screen for a rhino well that's what
10:50
Rocky to I love the Rocky movies when I
10:54
was a kid those were like Star Wars
10:56
movies yeah I mean glad Rocky 3
11:00
was an event I remember that was just
11:02
because it had built up it was this
11:04
small almost Indie
11:07
movie and even the story behind Rocky
11:10
getting made was a great story with
11:13
Sylvester
11:14
Stallone um and and like so great when
11:20
by Rocky 3 it was epic right gler 2
11:23
repeats some of the key moments from the
11:26
first first movie but not as well Rocky
11:30
2 does the same
11:32
thing and it's all very now in the case
11:34
of Rocky 2 we really like the character
11:38
yeah we see him come into his own but
11:40
they just hit the same beats as Rocky
11:42
won with a different lens and then he
11:44
wins the fight instead of losing it in
11:47
Rocky
11:48
W yeah I mean Return of the Jedi is very
11:51
much like that as well yes yes it's like
11:53
it's like you know you know the good
11:55
guys are going to win so here's the
11:57
story of how they won it uh and um yeah
12:01
and you know you just kind of you just
12:04
you know the ending but you you're
12:06
really not that uh that locked in with
12:09
the original to tell an effective story
12:11
that just kind of builds builds a good
12:13
foundation beneath it but uh but the
12:17
ending I I'm just saying that um I don't
12:21
think this will lead to a gladiator 3
12:24
whereas Rocky led to a whole franchise
12:29
right I mean I I I love the Rocky movies
12:32
I love even the bad Rocky movies because
12:34
I love that character yeah that is that
12:37
is Stallone like that's a part of his
12:40
spirit that he brought into being he
12:42
created a modern myth with the rocky not
12:46
just Rocky Apollo Creed uh Creed's son
12:50
like that whole thing it's an very
12:52
American
12:54
story so but you see the connection I'm
12:57
trying to make between Rocky films in
13:00
this movie glider 2 and Rocky 2 makes a
13:03
lot of it makes sense to me yeah but
13:06
well it's I think the point maybe the
13:08
point you're making is uh Rocky 2 is the
13:11
ending you wish you had in Rocky one
13:14
right right Gladiator 2 is the wish end
13:16
you wish it had you had in Gladiator 2 I
13:19
I'll tell you this is why there won't be
13:21
a gladiator 3 uh gler 2 effectively cut
13:25
off the first movie now so everything
13:27
you every connection you have with that
13:29
first movie has been done with and dealt
13:31
with uh and dispatched with uh and the
13:34
problem is to make a gladiator 3 movie
13:37
you have to be invested in the Lucius
13:39
character and I just don't think people
13:41
are invested in that character enough to
13:44
to not only make a sequel but to make a
13:46
story that is purely his as this now
13:49
great leader I don't see that Lucius as
13:52
a great leader because I was told he was
13:54
a great leader in the in the movie and
13:56
not shown that he was a great leader in
13:58
the movie
14:00
let's so I mean there no different than
14:03
our non-spoiler review I don't recommend
14:06
this film it's a colossal
14:09
disappointment yeah it's bad it's you
14:11
know what else you know what else is not
14:13
good the popcorn bucket Allan you got
14:15
the popcorn bucket do you have it let me
14:17
um the you know what I get all the dumb
14:21
popcorn buckets you know what I don't
14:22
have I don't have this bucket because it
14:25
looks so good in the pictures but my
14:29
daughter put candy in it uh but there
14:32
you go even the bucket is a
14:35
disappointment you know at least I only
14:37
paid $20 for it uh compared to the $35 I
14:41
popcorn yeah it looked really good in
14:45
the picture and then when I opened it it
14:47
was like oh God I just got ripped
14:51
off
14:57
oh wo
15:00
SM SM SM
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