Gladiator II: The early reactions to Ridley Scott’s long-awaited sequel are in – here’s what they say

First impressions of Ridley Scott’s eagerly anticipated film are out – with full reviews to follow next week. Were viewers entertained? Try not to get your toga in a twist – but early reactions to Ridley Scott’s long-awaited Gladiator II have hit the internet. And the consensus is the sequel to Scott’s Oscar-slaying 2000 sword-and-sandal epic merits two thumbs-up.

There is even chatter of possible Academy Awards contention – with Denzel Washington singled out for his role as Macrinus, a sort of Gladiatorial Simon Cowell figure and mentor to the movie’s blade-swinging anti-hero Lucius ( Normal People’s Paul Mescal ). The positive response to early screenings will come as a relief to those who hold the original Gladiator in high regard. In the intervening 24 years, director Scott has blotted his copybook multiple times, retroactively bleaching all the fun from his sci-fi classic Alien with a duo of dire prequels ( Prometheus and Alien: Covenant ).



He’s also proved to be hit-and-miss regarding the historical epic milieu at which he excelled with Gladiator – with both the charmless The Last Duel and the awful Napoleon suggesting a misfiring mojo. With Gladiator II , he appears to have belatedly rediscovered his talent for grand storytelling. That’s judging by the social media responses that have been published (the embargo for full-blown reviews doesn’t lift until next Monday, November 11).

“He’s still got it – absolutely buzzing,” tweeted FilmSpeak’s Griffin Schiller. “An epic Shakespearean tale of hope, futility and power within a crumbling system,” he added – which sounds more like a Manchester United biopic than a Roman epic, but there you go..