Gladiator II cleverly tells the story of the son of a gladiator from the original movie, easily meeting fan expectations.

Lucius (Paul Mescal), who was a child in the original movie, is now all grown up. He is the son of a previous gladiator and of Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and he lives in a small kingdom called Numidia. After some trouble and loss, Lucius, who goes by the name of Hanno, gets taken against his will to train in Rome to become a gladiator.

The gladiators, who are held as slaves, train and fight in a big arena before the emperor or emperors (Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger). They kill for entertainment and to stay alive themselves. The more they win, the more money they make to buy their freedom.

Soon, Lucius´ mother, who is now married to General Acacius (Pedro Pascal), notices him and attempts to reconnect. Lucius refuses to reconnect until a conflict involving his mother arises.

This movie is the much-anticipated sequel to the original Gladiator, which came out 24 years ago. This new sequel has many classic scenes that reference or parallel the first movie. Some sequels end up worse than the original, but this one lives up to the expectations.

People who have trouble with gore and violence might want to skip this movie. But overall, Gladiator II is an outstanding movie that fans of the original will appreciate.