Russell Crowe has criticised Gladiator II (2024) for "not actually understanding" what made the original movie work. Speaking about the second instalment, which stars Paul Mescal, the A-lister told Triple J: "I think the recent sequel that, you know, we don't have to name out loud is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special."
Crowe, whose performance as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator (2000) won him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2001, added: "It wasn't the pomp. It wasn't the circumstance. It wasn't the action. It was the moral core."
As fans of the original film will remember, Gladiator follows Maximus (Crowe), a former Roman general who is betrayed by the power-hungry Emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). After his wife and son are brutally murdered, Maximus is captured and enslaved, before finding himself in the care of gladiator trainer Proximo (Oliver Reed).
A skilled warrior, Maximus competes in tournaments, achieving widespread notoriety in Rome, and fights his way to the Colosseum, where he's determined to take his vengeance on the man who killed his family.
Reflecting on the "moral core" of the story, Crowe told Triple J that during the shoot for the first movie, he worked hard to ensure that Maximus's intrinsic values were constantly upheld. "The thing is, there was a daily fight on that set. It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character," he recalled.
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"The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus, it's like you're taking away his power. So you're saying at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f***ing this other girl? What are you talking about? It's crazy."
"They should be f***ing paying me for the amount of questions I am asked about a film I am not even in," Crowe continued.
"It has nothing to do with me. In that world, I am dead. Six feet under. But I do admit to a certain tinge of jealousy, because it reminds me of when I was younger and what it meant for me, in my life."
While Gladiator and Gladiator II were both directed by esteemed filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott, the sequel, which was a box office hit, received mixed reviews. Among them, Forbes called the movie a "dreadful, pointless sequel", and in our own review, we noted that it had a "lack of emotional punch and connection with its characters".
Starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal and Connie Nielsen, the latter of whom reprised her role from the first film, Gladiator II centred on Lucius Verus Aurelius (Mescal), the illegitimate son of former protagonist Maximus, as he is taken prisoner by the Roman army and forced to become a gladiator.
Gladiator is currently available to watch on Disney+ and BBC iPlayer, while Gladiator II is streaming on Paramount+ and NOW.
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