Hundreds of men line up, prepared for a gruesome battle. Around them are broken trees, veiled by the smoke left from the fires that once lit them. A war general walks among his men before rubbing the ashy soil between his hands.
This is the opening scene to “Gladiator,” the 2000 film directed by Ridley Scott. It is a cult classic that earned itself five academy awards.
The movie is raw. There is a grit to it that makes the world immersive, a world I find myself revisiting time and time again with tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms.
To be fair, I cry at “Mr. Peabody and Sherman,” but it is rare that I get goosebumps on the rewatch of a film.
Each scene has a warmth to it — both cinematically and metaphorically speaking. The scenes often show wide shots of the vast city of Rome resting under a golden sun. Torches line the walls of stone hallways casting flickering light into the characters’ eyes as they speak.
Even in the few scenes that are filmed with a cooler tint, the dialogue is communicated with a close and intimate warmth. For example, in the very first scene, it is either early morning or late afternoon, so the light casts a blue hue on the battlefield. However, Maximus, played by Russell Crowe, gives a warm prideful speech to his men before they engage in battle.
“Brothers, what we do in life…echoes in eternity,” Maximus said.
What “Gladiator” did so well that set it apart was that it did not just portray good versus evil, but also honor versus corruption.
The story follows Maximus, a war general, who is driven to kill the emperor in vengeance for killing his wife and son. From the very beginning, the audience is shown Maximus’s honorable nature — simply in the way his men look to him in battle and kneel.
Commodus, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is the embodiment of corruption. He is a Roman Emperor corrupted by his own desperation to be loved above all else. With every rejection and denial he faces, he resorts to crueler and more twisted methods to obtain the love of “his” people.
Essentially, Commodus is a manchild. He is unwilling to work or earn anything that he wants, and expects it all to be handed to him, including the throne of Rome itself. The first scene with Commodus shows his icky affection for his own sister, Lucilla. Later in the film, Lucilla expresses that she lives in fear around her brother — both for her safety and her son who must grow up with Commodus as his influence.
Creating a flawed hero and a motivated villain is challenging, yet “Gladiator” nails them both. These two dynamic characters are what make the film resonate so much with us. As human beings, we love human characters. While we never root for Commodus to win, we never question why he does what he does. To an extent, we all understand the impact rejection or denial has on our nature.
Even though not every character we grow to love makes it to the film’s end, honor emerges as the ultimate victor. Maximus’s aforementioned line about our actions living into eternity is the spotlight on this idea.
Those that give love and mercy rather than demanding it, are those worthy of honor.
The film’s final scene is a battle between Maximus and Commodus surrounded by Roman guards. Commodus stands in all white, and Maximus in a black and silver breastplate gifted to him by a man who gave his life for Maximus’s cause. The battle is stripped to honorable man against corrupted man, nothing more, nothing less.
In the end, only the honorable’s body is lifted and carried from the arena leaving the corrupted laying in the dirt.
On Nov. 22, 2024, we get to reenter the world of “Gladiator.” Ridley Scott has stepped back into the arena to direct “Gladiator II” after 24 long-awaited years.
Trailers of the upcoming film have left me both excited and incredibly hesitant. To live up to its predecessor, “Gladiator II” has many boxes to check.
My biggest worry is that the film will be too shiny — or dare I say too “strength and honor-y.”
“Gladiator” clearly established the importance of strength and honor. Now “Gladiator II” must tackle the implementation of these values. Should the new film try to drive home the same values the audience is already on board with: it risks becoming redundant.
Even as I write this, I am fully aware that I have written the word “honor” more times in the span of a thousand-some odd words than the entirety of my previous writing.
“Gladiator” was able to find the right balance that I have possibly failed to find. It was able to highlight the value without shoving it down your throat in every scene. To find this balance and avoid being too “honor-y,” “Gladiator II” has to find its own voice in the conversation — a voice that isn’t simply shouting what “Gladiator” said louder.
The grit of “Gladiator” was its focus on whether or not honor and vengeance could coexist. The film leaves no question that honor prevails even in hard-hitting emotional situations. “Gladiator II” cannot cling to the same focus. Instead, it should find a new challenging context for honor or even a new value to inspect.
In the most recent trailer for “Gladiator II”, Paul Mescal’s character Lucius has been revealed to be Maximus’s son. When we last saw Lucius in the original film, he was the emperor’s nephew and heir to the throne — yet these trailers depict him as a gladiator fighting in the arena.
I fear that the movie will tell the same story — of an important figure in the Roman government somehow becoming a slave and being forced to fight in the arena — when there is an alternative story to be told that merely builds upon the established world of “Gladiator.”
The original film ends on the note of the “whisper that was Rome:” a dream that Rome could be a place of peace. “Gladiator II” now has the opportunity to tell the story of rebuilding said peace.
What challenges do the characters face when trying to cleanse a system of corruption? How do they do it while mourning Maximus? What happens to the gladiator arenas? Should they be banned again?
While this story would take place in the political arena as opposed to the gladiator arena, the original film already set the stage perfectly for it.
Alas, the trailers show an emphasis on the gladiator arena, which given the film’s name is understandable. As long as they keep the grit of the world, the humanness of the characters and the beauty of its morals, the film can still be a huge success.
I am stoked to sit in the theater seats and submerge myself in ancient Rome again. I have longed to resolve the feeling I get watching the credits roll — being ejected from a world I was perfectly content to sit in for a while. I am prepared for inevitable tears, and hopeful for goosebumps.
To those who will join me in this dive back into the world, I bid thee strength and honor.
