30/38
From Carmen and "St
Scenario
After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to restore the glory of Rome to its people.. Elsewhere" to "Strange Things," check out the TV and movie roles of Gladiator II stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, and more. Musician Nick Cave was invited to draft a version by Russell Crowe and Sir Ridley Scott. His version focused on the more mythical elements of Ancient Rome, and would have seen Maximus arrive in the afterlife, only to be faced with other souls who are yet to ascend further. He is eventually tasked by Jupiter and other Roman deities to return to earth to find and kill Hephaestus, a former deity who has betrayed them. From there, he is resurrected as a Christian and finds himself traveling back to Rome, on a mission to stop Christianity from spreading, while crossing paths with the new Emperor, Lucius.
Lucius: Strength and Honor
The movie would have ended with Maximus being cursed to live for an eternity, featuring a montage of the soldier battling through the Crusades, World War II, and the Vietnam War, eventually revealing a modern-day Maximus working at the Pentagon in Washington. A precut M Rated version was released in cinemas in Australia. At least 3 scenes were trimmed: Cut No. 1 – Lucius (Paul Mescal) beats his opponent at the first Roman games. The beginning is trimmed to remove the swords connecting with the head. It cuts into the shot midway to reveal the stump and a bit of blood spray.
The red blood flowing from his ear is now green/yellow
Cut No. 2 – Macrinus (Denzel Washington) slashing at the neck of Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn). The initial long shot of the neck cutting and blood spray is missing. The following close-up is zoomed to the left to remove the continued neck slashing and blood spray on the right. Cut No. 3 – Macrinus puts a spike in the ear of Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger).
Paul Mescal just doesn't have it
Featured in The 7PM Project: Episode dated 3 July 2024 (2024). My main issue with this film is the total lack of gravitas from Paul Mescal. Russel Crow commanded respect, on screen his presence was immense and it was easy to believe he was a leader of men. He tried hard in his talisman speeches, but they had to be carried by the music instead of his command of the screen. Even his physical presence is underwhelming, he looked like a boy pretending to be a man. The emperors also lacked a sense of real danger and tyranny.
Without the charisma and emotional gravitas of the leading man everything else fails to deliver
Every time there was a flash back to the original I was reminded of how poor this film was in comparison. If you were hoping for a performance anywhere close to Russel Crowe or a Mel Gibson in Braveheart you will be sorely disappointed. Paul Mascals character was very empty, he seemed like the generic man, nothing at all to distinguish him. This movie is a textbook example of how casting will make or break a movie.
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