If you're hoping Gladiator 2 will offer meditative narratives and grainy frames like the original, you'll be in for a surprise. Ridley Scott injects a healthy dose of modern flair and bombast into this legacy sequel, with tonnes more action on an epic scale. Paul Mescal is charming but lacks the gravitas needed to carry the lead role, but thankfully, Denzel Washington makes up for that, and then some. It's far more camp and clichéd than its predecessor, but I'll be damned if Gladiator 2 isn't a whole load of fun. On the Scott scale, it's somewhere between Napoleon and The Last Duel.