Gladiator II

Official Australian release date: 14/11/24. Viewed: 14/11/24.
Director: Ridley Scott
Actors: Paul Mescal, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal
Genre: Action / Drama
Rating: M

‘Gladiator II’ (or ‘GLADIIATOR’ as the titles would have it!), is Ridley Scott diving back into more comfortable territory, after the underwhelming ‘House of Gucci’ and ‘Napoleon’. It’s helped by 24 years having passed since ‘Gladiator’, so some of the call-backs/fill-ins Scott gives us we assume are correct. We start with Lucius (Mescal) in Numidia (Morocco), with the Romans led by General Acacius (Pascal) attacking his city. He inevitably has tragedy befall him and is captured and taken to Rome.

There we get reacquainted to Lucilla (Nielsen), daughter of Marcus Aurelius, and now married to Acacius. There we’re shown how Lucius fits into the political scheming’s of Rome, where his new master, Macrinus (Washington) is also plotting away. The film does a good job of having some flashbacks/call-outs to Maximums Decimus Meridius, but only uses old footage of Crowe. Mescal is good as the stoic gladiator fighting for an honourable Rome, and Washington revels in his shifty role. The brother emperors Geta (Quinn) and Caracalla (Hechinger) are both suitably despicable.

Maybe a little long at 2 hours 20min, but it packs in plenty of battles, gladiator duels, violence/blood, political intrigue and hope. Does well not to get bogged down in nostalgia and tell a semi-independent story. Nothing terribly new in terms of Ancient Roman epics, but a well-put-together film.

Overall: Doesn’t tarnish the original

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

Memoir of a Snail

Official Australian release date: 17/10/24. Viewed: 10/11/24.
Director: Adam Elliot
Actors: Sarah Snook, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jacki Weaver, Tony Armstrong
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Rating: M

‘Memoir of a Snail’ is Adam Elliot’s second full-length stop-motion-animation film (15 years after the excellent ‘Mary & Max’), and is another thoughtful, often-sad, sometimes funny, look at the life of a young girl, but this time they’re twins – Grace (Snook) and Gilbert (Smit-McPhee). They suffer some tragedies and are forced to grow up in separate houses in Canberra and Perth.

Grace’s backstory and her obsession with snails is done well, taking up most of the film, and while there’s lots of depressing moments – and some odd/adult ones! – there’s plenty of heart and silver-linings/hope that drives the story. Part of this is quirk Pinky (Weaver) and how she plays into the happy ending. I assume chunks of this film are inspired by Elliot’s real life…

Great voice cast, with Eric Bana, Tony Armstrong, Magda Szubanski and Nick Cave too. The use of colour and texture of the Claymation is superb, with the detail exceptional, especially in the title scene. It’s always fun and quirky to look at, with multiple things happening on the screen in every shot. Only 95min, but a near-lifetime is packed in, with plenty of touching moments.

Overall: Another strong family-focused adult animation

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars

Here

Official Australian release date: 31/10/24. Viewed: 1/11/24.
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Actors: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly
Genre: Drama
Rating: M

‘Here’ is the fifth film directed by Robert Zemeckis starring Tom Hanks, and while not a 2.5-hour epic spanning 3 decades like ‘Forrest Gump’, it does somehow manage to span 65 million years. This is done via the film’s gimmick of the camera sitting in the one spot, focusing on the living room of a house built in the early 19^th century (presumably in New Jersey, USA), which includes some flashbacks of what was there on that spot of land before the house was built, including a Native American tribe.

We then follow ~5 families at various times and their life in the living room. It’s not all linear, but isn’t too confusing, with the main storyline following Al (Bettany) and Rose (Reilly) buying the house after WWII. There they raise their 4 kids, with Richard (Hanks) played by a de-aged/‘Big’-era Hanks from ~16. He then meets de-aged Margaret (Wright), and we follow them as they age in the house over the decades. There’s some nice moments, some funny bits and some sad scenes.

Even though it’s a relatively short film, it probably didn’t need at least 2 of these storylines! The editing is sometimes good, but often unnecessarily annoying. It’s trying to portray the small moments of life that add up to create the human experience. It gets close, but due to the jumping around, you don’t grow too attached to anyone, so the poignancy is lost. Almost a bottle episode!

Overall: Good tribute to set design!

Gav's Rating: 3 stars