jpr-reardon

As a civilian, I don't have a way to judge how "real" a war film is other than what it evokes or how it makes me feel. I can confidently say this was the best anti-war, war film, I've ever seen because of how REAL it felt: the pure chaos, disorientation, pain, blood, shock, fear, and delirium brought the audience directly into the fight.

The movie's highlight is the audio mix; seeing this in IMAX is an absolute must because of it. There is no added music, or flair to make the film whimsical or to help the time go by, it's just raw. Your background noise is gunfire, jets, screams, and the horror of war.

This won't become anyone's "pleasure" watch or something one should aspire to watch frequently, but it's a must-see movie for anyone looking to get a brief glimpse into the lives of our military men and what they face when we send them off to hostile lands.

9/10 JR.

I was lucky to sit through an early screening here in NYC, so let's start with the obvious.

Gladiator 2 has superb CGI & practical effects. You will, at times, feel as though you are in Rome. Denzel excels in his role and is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination, and the blood & gore is highly entertaining. What's not to like about a Roman gladiator lopping off a head in THEE Colosseum?

Now, the drawbacks.

Paul Mezcal, a phenomenal actor, fell short of what I wanted from him in the film. Without divulging the plot, he excels in one-on-one scenes and compliments his screen partners well. However, he could have done better in group settings where he was supposed to be the catalyst of the scene. As a "leader" throughout the film, inciting the rumblings of a rebellion, uprising, etc., we expect a draw from him. However, at no point was there a desire to follow him. This may be a nitpick but when the one character im supposed to be enraptured with doesn't make me want to charge into the fray it falls short of its target.

The story is better than average but could be better. It complements the bones of the original film and provides some fan service, but it is in no way a standalone marvel compared to its predecessor.

The music score was solid, but they could have taken some notes from Dune Part 2 on how to give an audience goosebumps during its most pivotal scenes.

All in all, it's a good counterpart to the original Gladiator, one of the better films of 2024, and will receive some Oscar buzz, but it falls short of what it could have been, which is a masterpiece.