Pun Salad

Ridley Scott is back, baby, and (as near as I can tell) uses his time machine to send a film crew back to Imperial Rome, a few years after that gladiator who looked a lot like Russell Crowe managed to work his way into a fatal encounter with that nasty Roman emperor who looked a lot like Joaquin Phoenix.

I went in not knowing too much about the movie, and I recommend that. I was taken unawares by some of the big plot twists.

It starts out with Hanno (Paul Mescal) about to defend his city against the invading Roman Navy. His wife Arishat (Yuval Gonen) is a deadly archer, and before you can say "Gee, I bet she's not gonna do well here" … she does not, thanks to a specific order given by Roman General Acacius. Hanno is taken prisoner, he's recognized for his fighting talent by gladiator-manager Macrinus (Denzel Washington!), and pretty soon he's in the Coliseum fighting big lugs on rhinos, sharks, … while all the time plotting revenge.

Things are complicated by a holdover from Gladiator: Lucilla (Connie Nielson) is now (gasp!) married to Acacius, and is an occasional attendee at the Coliseum, where she … well, you should watch the movie.