'Gladiator II' review: Slightly silly, but very entertaining sequel

During the first few minutes of "Gladiator II," you might think you’re in the wrong theater. The opening credits use picture-book animation to recount the story of an ancient Roman soldier who dies at the hand of a conniving emperor, yet becomes a hero to his people. Wait — is this a Disney-Pixar movie? Did you stumble into a screening of "Brave?"

Rest assured you’re in the right place. "Gladiator II," Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Oscar-winning hit "Gladiator" (2000), is merely setting the stage for what follows: a grand tale that swirls together myths, facts and legends of its own making. With its lost father and hero’s journey, "Gladiator II" practically could be a Disney-Pixar movie — albeit with sliced jugulars, severed limbs, decapitations and other R-rated treats.

Paul Mescal plays Lucius, an ordinary villager whose extraordinarily attractive wife (Yuval Gonen) is killed by an invading Roman general, Acacius (Pedro Pascal). Now a prisoner, Lucius must fight as a gladiator under the ownership of Macrinus, a slick entertainment impresario played to the hilt by Denzel Washington. While Lucius plots revenge against Acacius, we piece together what we already knew: Our hero is the lost son of the great General Maximus (Russell Crowe, glimpsed in flashbacks).

This is sudsy stuff from screenwriter David Scarpa, and "Gladiator II" isn’t embarrassed by it at all. Scott alternates deftly between scenes of high-court intrigue (Derek Jacobi returns as Senator Gracchus) and brutal violence. Scott, an absolute master of the action sequence (see "Napoleon" or "The Last Duel"), really goes wild here. At one point, he floods the Colosseum with water so the gladiators can battle on boats, then throws in man-eating sharks for good measure. (They're rendered in slightly glitchy CGI, which makes them even funnier.)

Meanwhile, Mescal struggles a bit as Lucius. The depth and intelligence that made the actor so riveting in the series "Normal People" and the dark drama "Aftersun" (for which he earned an Oscar nod) don’t fully work in this swords-and-sandals setting. Mescal is rugged and brooding, but he also has too much of what the dramaturges might call "interiority." Macrinus notes that rage pours out of Lucius "like milk," but Mescal himself doesn’t show it. Crowe, by contrast, could project his emotions all the way to the back row; you might find yourself missing his big-screen presence.

There’s a welcome return from Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Maximus’ lover, and two lively if questionable performances from Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger as the twin brother emperors Caracalla and Geta, respectively. (They were real figures; was it necessary to turn them into gay stereotypes?) In the end, "Gladiator II" is a bit silly, but never less than entertaining. Like the savvy Macrinus, Scott is giving the people what they want.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com@raferguzman