Gladiator II

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Remember that line from “Airplane!”?

“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?”

Well, I do.

Better than football.

Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” won Russell Crowe an Oscar. It also won Best Picture. And raked in $465.5 million at the box office.

Now with Crowe older and past his gladiator days, Scott has picked Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal to star in his new sequel, “Gladiator II.”

The plot takes place 16 years after Marcus Aurelius’s death (depicted in the original “Gladiator). Rome is mow under the corrupt rule of twin emperors Geta and Caracalla (played by Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger).

General Marcus Acacius (Pascal) captures Marcus Aurelius’s grandson, Lucius (Mescal) and sells him into slavery. A stablemaster, Macrinus (Denzel Washington), sees his skill at fighting and offers him a chance to battle Acacius in the Colosseum. He gets the chance when Acacius is arrested for treason for refusing to go to war again. Lucius even gets to face off against Macrinus.

Yes, you’ll see lots of hand-to-hand battles in “Gladiator II,” better than a modern-day football game. Helmeted warriors clash in brutal winner-takes-all battles that leaves audiences riveted.

The film was given an R rating due to “strong bloody violence.”

On the first day of the 2024 NFL season, Paramount Pictures and Pepsi announced a cross-promotion with the soft drink’s sponsorship of the National Football League. Advertisements featured football stars Josh Allen, Dereck Henry, Justin Jefferson, and Travis Kelce as “Gridiron Gladiators.”

Rotten Tomatoes rated it 71% fresh, saying: “Echoing its predecessor while upping the bloodsport and camp, ‘Gladiator II’ is an action extravaganza that derives much of its strength and honor from Denzel Washington’s scene-stealing performance.”

Another critic called it a “big, bloody and bad ass action spectacle” that builds upon the original film’s legacy.

You can catch the action in theaters now.

And, yes, the battles aren’t over yet —another sequel, “Gladiator III,” is already in early development. For now, let the games begin.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com