Well this is pretty terrible. There's so much obvious and bad CGI. Every time there are more than 5-10 characters on screen, there are a bunch of obvious digital crowds, all the boats/water looked terrible, and the baboons were like weird mutant video game renders... CGI rhinos, clearly comped in elephants, CGI poorly animated sharks... Going from a very grounded-in-reality first movie to this was super disappointing. Coming form Napoleon this was a surprise and a disappointment. Napoleon had many flaws, but the production and effects were super clean. The plot was also extremely bad. There's no plausibility, no stakes, and no emotional payoff at any point. You don't care about the characters because they have unearned skills and rushed backstories. There's also no believable message of sacrifice, duty, and honor like the first (which is what made it great in the first place). And so much awful fanservice moments. Some of the close up 1v1 sword fights had good action, and some of the individual actors, costumes, and sets were good. Super disappointing.

Borderline unwatchable hot garbage, and to think that there's a third one on the way. Someone pull ridleys funding already please. This cheap riding off the success of the first film does nobody's career any favors.

This is Denzel’s movie, plain and simple. Most of the cast show up but don’t show out. Mescal has some charm but doesn’t convey the rage everyone keeps saying he has, and doesn’t match Crowe’s effortless presence. Nielsen is saddled with thankless legacy lines. Pascal is fun as a sort of Maximus who was never exiled and tries to revolt in a different way, but he’s complementary to the ensemble rather than stealing any scenes. Scott’s directing has never been more workmanlike and uninspired, from the coloring to the blocking to composition. It lacks the majesty of the first that lent it a mythic quality. The CGI was so evident and took me right out. The soundtrack, much like the ending and many other scenes, relies on echoing the first movie. It felt on the whole more like another movie Scott felt he had to get out rather than the passion of the first movie. And I have less patience for ‘Rome (America) was built on a dre and we can build that dream again because the core is there and good’ now more than ever. But Denzel is having so much fun. Watching him piece things together and scheme, and bring his easy swagger and charisma to Rome, is the highlight of the film. It’s a shame Mescal and the material don’t rise to give him an equal foil. Their dynamic is oddly lifeless and impersonal, using each other with no begrudging respect or moment of camaraderie or anything. It pulls up to it when they approach Marcinus’ past, but for some reason it pulls back, and when the scene ended I was left wondering why. Why does Lucius disdain him so, exactly? When does he start believing in Rome, and the dream, and Acacius being a good man, actually, instead of despising all it stood for? It’s not really sold that much, same with the gladiators’ bond with him unlike the solid one between him and doctor Ravi. It’s all just kind of assumed, following the required plot beats. Like the dead wife, much like his dad’s, but unlike Maximus’ family, stops mattering by the last third or so. Instead it’s his blood father and mother he thinks of as the film closes, because to remember what Rome took from him would make the ‘Rome is good at heart’ message hard to swallow. See it for Denzel politicking and chewing the scenery, and you will be entertained. Expect Scott’s best, or even the level the first movie which I liked but did not love, and you’ll give it a thumbs down.

"I know this one. He eats monkeys." Messy, clunky, derivative. Nothing feels earned; a pale shadow of the original. On the other hand, this one has monkeys, sharks, rhinos, deranged twin emperors, and most importantly, DENZEL WASHINGTON having the time of his life. Pretty sure I laughed out loud more than Sir Ridley intended. Note to filmmakers: If you want people to like your movie, maybe don't include flashbacks to a way better movie. (Cf. Furiosa and the War of the Rohirrim trailer.)