Gladiator II: A lackluster sequel to Gladiator with choppy plot and enjoyable battles is saved by Denzel Washington's flamboyant performance.

Ridley Scott's iconic films, from Alien to Gladiator II, showcase his immersive worlds, high-octane action, and compelling characters.

Rome teeters on the brink in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II.” Its fall is said to be imminent. The dream it once symbolized is dead. The once high-minded ideals of the Roman Empire have deteriorated across a venal land now ruled by a pale-faced emperor.On the throne is Geta (Joseph Quinn), who sits alongside his sniveling brother, Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). The heart of this Rome, of course, is the Coliseum, where throngs cheer for the gladiators who fight and die. There, the ageless Scott remains remarkably at home. The arena, with its eruptions of spectacle and violence, is a stand in for the director’s own vision of the big screen: Go big or go home.This dichotomy — a fallen society and its insatiable need for entertainment — is the clever and not altogether flattering backdrop of the “Gladiator” films. Part two, set 20 years after the events of the first movie, brings a new combatant to the Coliseum — a mysterious outsider named Lucius Verus, played by Paul Mescal. And to answer the inevitable question, yes.…