Russell Crowe has criticised Gladiator II in a new interview.
The Aussie actor, who won a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of lead character Maximus in the original film, said the sequel did not capture the essence of the tale.
“I think the recent sequel that, you know, we don’t have to name out loud, is a really unfortunate example of even the people in that engine room not actually understanding what made the first one special,” Crowe said in a new interview with Triple J.
“It wasn’t the pomp. It wasn’t the circumstance. It wasn’t the action. It was the moral core.”
He added that it was likely the new cast and crew faced similar dilemmas in terms of portraying the character’s morals.
“The thing is there was a daily fight on that set. It was a daily fight to keep that moral core of the character,” he recalled.
“The amount of times they suggested sex scenes and stuff like that for Maximus, it’s like you’re taking away his power.”
“So you’re saying at the same time he had this relationship with his wife, he was f***ing this other girl? What are you talking about? It’s crazy.”
The 61-year-old actor was able to film the version he had envisioned, resulting in 12 Oscar nominations in 2001 and bringing home the Best Picture award.
Crowe expressed his confusion as to why the sequel would stray from what made it so successful in the first place.
“The women in Europe when that movie started coming out, I would be at restaurants and they’d come talk to me and go, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s like, ‘Hey it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it!’” he laughed.
The film received mixed reviews when it came out in November 2024, with Forbes calling it a “a dreadful, pointless sequel”, while the New York Times gave it the “thumb’s up”.
Images: Triple J
