For obvious reasons—his character died in the 2000 movie, for starters—Gladiator star Russell Crowe didn't return as Maximus in Gladiator II. Last year, the Oscar-winner said that he'd be open to giving the sequel a chance.
Well, he's finally watched it and wasn't too impressed. Talking to triple j (via SFFGazette.com), Crowe shared his belief that filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott dropped the ball when it came to the movie that has 70% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $462.2 million at the worldwide box office.
Crowe's biggest complaint echoes what many critics said: Scott sacrificed story to focus on splashy set pieces, like a sequence involving gladiators battling sharks in the coliseum.
"I think the recent sequel that, you know, we don’t have to name out loud, is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special," he stated. "It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core."
Reflecting on his Gladiator experience, Crowe hinted at clashes with the studio as they pushed to add gratuitous sex scenes. "The thing is there was a daily fight on that set. It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character. The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus, it’s like you’re taking away his power."
"So you’re saying at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f***ing this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy," the actor continued. "The women in Europe when that movie started coming out, I would be at restaurants and they’d come talk to me and go, 'What’s going on?' It’s like, 'Hey it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it!'"
In Gladiator II, Paul Mescal took on a lead role as Lucius Verus, the grandson of former Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was ultimately revealed that Maximus, who fell in combat with the villainous Commodus in the first movie, was his father.
There's been some talk of a third Gladiator movie, but nothing to indicate that it's actually happening. The sequel has not enjoyed the same awards success as its predecessor and appears to have been largely forgotten since being released last year.
Based on characters by David Franzoni and a story by Peter Craig and David Scarpa, Scott directed Gladiator II from a script by Scarpa. The cast includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, with Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington.
You can hear more from Crowe in the player below.