Gladiator 2 Exposes A Harsh Reality For Ridley Scott Movies

The mixed reception to Gladiator 2 proves that the best sequels to Ridley Scott movies aren’t directed by Ridley Scott himself. Gladiator 2 has proven to be a box office success, and it’s received mostly positive reviews from critics, but it hasn’t matched the universal acclaim of its predecessor. The debate rages on as to whether or not Gladiator even needed a sequel. The first film explored the notion that today’s actions will have implications for tomorrow and echo in eternity, but it was a perfect standalone story; it didn’t need another movie showing those eternal echoes.

But Scott decided to make a sequel to Gladiator anyway. He retconned Lucius to be Maximus’ illegitimate son and set him off on his own path to becoming a champion gladiator while quietly plotting his revenge against Rome’s corrupt rulers. Gladiator 2 has proven to be more successful and satisfying than most legacy sequels, but it doesn’t quite rank alongside the all-time greats, like The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part II. This confirms a sad reality about sequels to Scott’s movies: the very best ones aren’t helmed by Scott himself.

The Best Sequels To Ridley Scott Movies Weren’t Made By Ridley Scott

Aliens & Blade Runner 2049 Were Directed By Other Filmmakers

The best sequels to Scott’s movies have been directed by other filmmakers. Aliens, the 1986 sequel to Scott’s horror masterpiece Alien, was directed by James Cameron, while Blade Runner 2049, the 2017 sequel to Scott’s sci-fi noir Blade Runner, was directed by Denis Villeneuve. These are easily the two greatest sequels to Scott’s movies (and two of the greatest sequels ever made) and they’re two that Scott didn’t direct himself. Aliens switched to the action genre for a brand-new moviegoing experience, and Blade Runner 2049 flipped the human/replicant dynamic on its head for a new take on the story.

This success can partly be attributed to the fact that new filmmakers bring fresh eyes to a franchise. If Scott had directed the sequels to Alien and Blade Runner, he would’ve just rehashed what he’d done before. But Cameron and Villeneuve came in with their own vision for those stories and their universes. Scott’s work on Gladiator 2 further proves this. He still has a sharp eye for battle scenes, but Gladiator 2 is pretty much a remake of its predecessor. If a different filmmaker had taken it on, it might’ve veered more in its own direction.

Ridley Scott-Directed Sequels (Or Prequels) Are Mixed

Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, & Gladiator 2 Have All Been Hit-And-Miss

So far, Scott has directed three sequels to his movies (although two of them are technically prequels). In 2012, he returned to the Alien universe with Prometheus, which used a Biblical allegory to explore the origins of the xenomorphs. In 2017, he returned to the Alien franchise again with a follow-up to Prometheus entitled Alien: Covenant, which continued the xenomorph origin storyline while going back to the series’ horror roots with another haunted-house-in-space premise. And now, in 2024, Scott has made a sequel to Gladiator about Lucius’ own journey from soldier to slave to champion.

None of these movies have been bad per se, but they’ve certainly been polarizing — especially compared to Scott’s original films, which have been ranked among the greatest movies ever made. All three of Scott’s prequels and sequels have their own issues. The biggest problem with Prometheus is that it didn’t fit what audiences expect from an Alien movie. It has moments of body horror, but it’s mostly an existentialist sci-fi epic about how the human race came to be. The characters make distractingly stupid decisions, and it asks a lot more questions than it answers.

Alien: Covenant was a welcome return to the horror genre, but it pales in comparison to Scott’s original Alien film from 1979. There are shocking moments of gore in that movie — particularly the gruesome chestburster — but it didn’t rely too much on the gore. Scott built a palpable sense of Hitchcockian tension throughout the film and only used jump scares to pay off long sequences of dread. Alien: Covenant relies on jump scares and gratuitous gore without any of the build-up to earn it. Still, it had a jaw-dropping twist ending that redeemed some of its missteps.

Gladiator 2 isn’t quite as divisive as the Alien prequels, but it hasn’t received the unanimous praise that the first film did. The movie’s 71% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes is “fresh” (just about), but it also suggests that a large chunk of the critic community was unimpressed by the sequel. Audiences are divided on whether or not the historical inaccuracies are enough to ruin the movie, and whether or not wild set-pieces involving monkeys and sharks make Gladiator 2 a great movie or just a very entertaining movie.

Gladiator 2 Is Ridley Scott’s Best Sequel That He’s Directed

Gladiator 2 Is Definitely More Crowd-Pleasing Than The Alien Prequels

Gladiator 2 might not quite live up to the first one, but it’s still the best sequel Scott has made to one of his films. It’s certainly the more crowd-pleasing of the three, and the scale of it is extremely impressive, even if it’s not quite as ambitious as the original in terms of its story and themes. Paul Mescal might not have Russell Crowe’s chops as an action hero, but he does share his gravitas and dramatic abilities, and gives an equally compelling performance as the Gladiator sequel’s new hero.

Pedro Pascal’s Acacius gives the sequel a much more sympathetic villain than the first film’s Commodus, and Denzel Washington’s Macrinus brings a lot more comic relief than the original had. Scenes involving bare-knuckle brawls with monkeys, a bullfight with an armored rhino, and a staged naval battle with miniature ships and hungry sharks make Gladiator 2 a must-see blockbuster spectacle to behold on the biggest screen possible. It might not be the masterpiece that Gladiator was, but Gladiator 2 is still a wildly entertaining ride.

Ridley Scott’s Sequels Still Deserve A Lot Of Praise

Scott Hasn’t Made A Truly Bad Sequel

Just because Scott’s sequels have never lived up to the originals, it doesn’t mean they’re not worthy of praise. Gladiator 2 is impressive blockbuster filmmaking, even if it’s unlikely to have the staying power of the original. Scott’s Alien prequels are among the better installments in that franchise; they have plenty of interesting ideas and they’re better than most of the non-Scott sequels, with the exception of Aliens (and, arguably, Alien: Romulus). Scott might not have made the greatest sequels of all time, but his sequels are far from the worst.