‘Gladiator II’ Trailer

I’m really getting tired of 3-minute trailers revealing the entire movie. It’s become an epidemic. Here’s another blatant example of that.

After watching this trailer for Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” all I want to know is where are the SHARKS and FACE-RIPPING MONKEYS? They were shown during CinemaCon, but don’t appear here. We only get a glimpse of the Rhinos.

Also, that’s a very lame needle drop — using a rap song, Kanye West and Jay Z’s “No Church,” waters down the entire thing. Remember when they also used Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” in the “Napoleon” trailer?

Regardless, it all looks very over the top and, potentially, entertaining. Denzel owns every scene, no surprise there. I’m not big on Paul Mescal and he doesn’t really impress here. Was it a good idea to give him the lead role?

“Gladiator II” is said to be a revenge story. Lucius (Paul Mescal), a noble journeyman, has his wife murdered and decides to go to the capital to seek revenge and fight his way to the top of the chain. Denzel Washington’s puppet master, a power broker, is the villain of the film, overseeing everything and impressed by Lucius’ talents.

Scott, 86, is coming off last year’s “Napoleon,” which was seen by many as a disappointing effort. He’s always been a hit-or-miss director, but also hasn’t had a critical and commercial success since 2015’s “The Martian.” Will “Gladiator II” break this dry spell?

The cast for the film, which is rumored to have a budget of $350M, is certainly attractive and includes the likes of Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Connie Nielsen. The screenplay was written by David Scarpa (“Napoleon”).

“Gladiator II” will be in theaters on November 22, 2024.