Despite some misgivings after his latest productions, Ridley Scott proves that he still has a place in blockbusters with Gladiator II.

While his compatriots Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg have drastically reduced their production output, Ridley Scott continues to be more prolific than ever, with works as large as ever. Barely a year after a rather disappointing Napoleon , the 86-year-old director is back with a sequel to his epic 2000 film Gladiator.

Focusing on Maximus’s son Lucius (Paul Mescal), Gladiator II largely retains the original structure of its first installment, forcing Lucius to fight in the arena after being captured by the army of the Emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). Proving himself to be a good arena fighter and driven by a rage to avenge the death of his beloved Arishat (Yuval Gonen) at the hands of General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), Lucius is recruited by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), a gladiator merchant determined to use Lucius to rise to power.

Using this very similar premise to the first film, Gladiator II turns Mescal into Maximus 2.0, inevitably pitting him against Russell Crowe’s charisma and presence. Ridley Scott thus puts his actor in an almost unwinnable situation, especially as the film keeps harping on the link between Lucius and Maximus, directly placing the character in an inevitably inferior seat. Yet Mescal proves himself to be a robust actor with a magnetic screen presence. But when it comes to magnetism, no one in Gladiator II can match Denzel Washington, who steals every scene in which he appears, and does so naturally.

While this could be a flaw, a secondary actor stealing the show from his protagonist, it’s important to remember that Ridley Scott puts entertainment above all else. And Washington is indisputably the most entertaining and fascinating character, playing with a bewitching aura to achieve his ends.

This focus on entertainment also takes precedence over historical accuracy, which has never really worried the director, who prefers to surprise us with a whole host of sequences of various battles in the arena, be it with a sword against a rhinoceros or in a ship. What’s certain is that Scott makes us watch every dollar of this $250 million production. Gladiator II embodies the immense, the rich and the gloriously sick in the Roman bourgeoisie and in its spectacular sequences.

Fortunately for us, Scott shifts his focus from the original story to Roman society and, more specifically, to Rome, on the brink of economic and political collapse, as the Emperors’ impulsive and punitive decisions make them more and more enemies. Among these enemies, the film also focuses on General Acacius, intelligently developing him into a deeper, more human character than a mere antagonist. Positioning him as a representation of the Empire’s greedy desire to conquer its surroundings, while Acacius becomes increasingly hostile to these pointless massacres.

Two visions of Rome clash both in the arena and behind the scenes, but even if Gladiator II tries to give us hope in Lucius’ beliefs and actions for a peaceful Roman empire, Macrinus’ words can only resonate more strongly as the film progresses. Rome is ruled by violence, not justice, and taking over the empire is a battle that will always be fought by the strongest.

The shadow of Maximus looms large between Gladiator II and Lucius, but Ridley Scott still manages to build a highly entertaining work thanks to excellent editing and acting performances that make his political discussions as exciting as his arena sequences. And unlike many films of recent years, Gladiator II is a blockbuster, and it feels and looks like one.