Gladiator II: Paul Mescal 'mesmerising' in 'relentlessly entertaining' sequel

"'Gladiator II' is by far the best popcorn film of the year". Ridley Scott's "exhilarating" sequel to the 2000 movie starring Russell Crowe has "swords, sandals, sharks in the flooded Roman Colosseum, Denzel Washington in flowing robes and Paul Mescal biting a baboon" – what's not to love?

The action follows Lucius (Mescal), the illegitimate son of Crowe's Maximus and Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), and nephew of the first film's villainous Commodore (Joaquin Phoenix). After leading a relatively peaceful life as a farmer in northern Africa with his wife, Lucius is forced into slavery and ends up becoming a gladiator like his father.

Mescal is "mesmerising", said Caryn James on BBC Culture, managing to hold the film together with the same "power and magnetism" as Crowe. Scott knows exactly when to give him close-ups that "allow him to shine".

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It should be noted from the outset that the film "isn't quite as strong as its predecessor", said Robbie Collin in The Telegraph. But "Gladiator II" is "still the year's most relentlessly entertaining blockbuster". The sequel "zig-zags madly from ribald comedy to sweeping action, then quivering melodrama". From the "shadowy plotting that threatens to bring Rome crashing down" to the spectacular Colosseum battle scenes, it's clear that "fun is Scott's primary aim".

Denzel Washington's portrayal of scheming slave-trainer Macrinus is so good he "rather eclipses the rest of the cast"; "every gesture radiates movie-star ease" and "every line comes with an unexpected flourish".

Whenever Washington is on screen, the film "ignites", agreed Kevin Maher in The Times. But save for a couple of "dazzling close-ups" Mescal is "shaky at best", and Pedro Pascal is "wasted in the non-role" of Roman general Acacius.

The battle scenes "quickly dissolve into the enervating repetition of man versus digital beastie", and the decision to flood the Colosseum and bring in sharks was "especially poor". Their inclusion feels "depressingly B-movie" like "Deep Blue Sea" or "Sharknado".

I thought the sequel was "watchable and spectacular", said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. The Colosseum has been recreated as a "gobsmacking 1:1 scale physical reconstruction with real crowds", and though it's "impossible to avoid" the endless parallels with the first movie, the "all-important gladiator set-pieces have the right hallucinatory quality".

"Gladiator II" is "in many ways as compelling and expertly staged" as the original, added Boyd Hilton in Empire. "There's a fearlessness to its big swings that has to be applauded. It's Ridley Scott Unleashed, and we're here for it."