Oliver Stone wasn’t an enormous fan of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, calling the sequel “empty calories” in comparison with the primary movie.
I’m all the time curious to listen to what filmmakers consider the work of their friends, and Oliver Stone just lately chimed in with a number of ideas on Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II.
“It’s certainly watchable. It’s good, well made, usual tight Ridley film, but I didn’t care about the people. I wasn’t invested,” Stone mentioned on the PBD Podcast. “The first one was a classic. The second one is empty calories, like a commercial product.” While Scott could not have received Stone over, he does have a fan in Christopher Nolan, who just lately expressed his love for the Gladiator sequel.
One movie which Stone did like this yr was Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. “On a visual scale, it’s one stunning scene after another – beyond his Apocalypse, or his exotic One from the Heart,” Stone mentioned. “As a story, many have knocked the movie, and I can’t say I adopted it fully, however sufficient to wish to see it once more, as a result of I imagine Francis was honest in his exploration of a future, which is past what our society nonetheless doesn’t perceive — that we will have a humanitarian society.“
“From legendary director Ridley Scott, Gladiator II continues the epic saga of power, intrigue, and vengeance set in Ancient Rome,” reads the official Gladiator II synopsis. “Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus at the hands of his uncle, Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.”
Our personal Chris Bumbray just lately reviewed Gladiator II, and whereas he admits that it isn’t the moment basic the unique was, “it’s nonetheless a highly entertaining, faithful sequel, jam-packed with action and spectacle. There hasn’t been a lavish, action-driven historical drama done on this scale in some time, with Scott, despite his advancing age, as energetic and kinetic a director as ever.” You can try the remainder of Bumbray’s assessment proper right here.