Sixteen years have passed since the death of Marcus Aurelius and Rome is under the tyrannical and corrupt government of Geta and Caracalla, brother emperors, when, from Numidia, with a load of slaves, the mysterious prisoner of war Hanno arrives in the city, who immediately stands out for his fighting skills and is chosen as a gladiator by Macrinus, an ambitious advisor to the Empire. Victory in combat can make Hanno a free man, but all the young man seems to aspire to is revenge against General Acacius, Lucilla’s husband and responsible for the death of Arishat, his beloved wife.

This time, he is accompanied not by an actor to be consecrated as a star but by an interpreter already highly appreciated, by different audiences, who allows Scott to bring to the screen that humanity that was seriously in danger of being missing, in a context in which digital dominates and dries up everything it invests. Werewolf monkeys, tiger sharks, drugged rhinos: the trials of the hero’s path are structured like levels of a grand guignol game, while, in the secret of his soul, our hero makes peace with his traumatic past and prepares to take on the role he was destined for from birth.

Achilles’ anger and Luke Skywalker’s childhood are thus summed up in the figure of Lucius Verus Aurelius, while the ghost of Maximus Meridius hovers awkwardly over everything like a model not to be forgotten. And that’s the problem with the film: in the frantic search for that something that can recall the first chapter, and possibly guarantee the same success. Hence the forced repetition of phrases that are not exactly original (“Strength and honor!”) so that they turn into catchphrases, the display of naval battles and severed heads; between historical oversights and Hollywood habits that are increasingly strident and difficult to digest (like the English writings on Roman walls).

Improperly introduced as a dreamer, the character played by Paul Mescal actually appears more disillusioned than his predecessor, and it seems that he sacrifices himself for the common good due to a lack of alternatives, being the only sober one left in a world of politicians drunk on the thirst for their own gain.

Gladiator 2 is, therefore, still and always the story of the birth of a nation, America, which spectacularly progresses in step with the conquests of technology, but whose epic inspiration today appears weaker and more uncertain.