Tag: ridley-scott

The Dog Stars (2026)

  • Director: Ridley Scott
  • Screenplay: Mark L. Smith
  • Based on: ‘The Dog Stars‘ by Peter Heller
  • Producer: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Mark L. Smith, Cliff Roberts
  • Cast: Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce
  • Cinematography: Erik Messerschmidt
  • Editing: Sam Restivo, Claire Simpson
  • Score: Harry Gregson-Williams
  • Genre: Science fiction action thriller
  • Runtime: 118 minutes

Imagine if COVID-19 had been tenfold in its lethality. Then you’d have the world ‘The Dog Stars‘ exists in. Deserted cities overgrown with moss. Corpses rotting on the ground. On the bright side, no pollution – a starlit sky.

Enough time has passed for talk of a pandemic not to hit home for us viewers. But for pilot Hig (Jacob Elordi) and his cohabitant Bangley (Josh Brolin), the current situation is gloomy. Hig’s pregnant wife died of flu and Bangley’s social skills leave a lot to be desired. The latter has a knack for survival though. He knows the rules. Shoot or be shot. Nobody is here to make friends.

A pragmatic approach. However, it doesn’t apply to everyone Hig encounters. Leaving the safety of his and Bangley’s base to chase a faraway radio signal (a stupid decision), he befriends Cima (Margaret Qualley) and her gruff dad, known as “Pops” (Guy Pearce).

The pacing is sluggish, as if all the fight has been knocked out of it. The only compelling character is Bangley, and he’s ditched a third of the way into the runtime. So that leaves us with Elordi’s brooding and a torpid journey onwards. The action picks up a bit during a brief touchdown at a reconverted airport in Grand Junction, run by a former air stewardess (Allison Janney).

The pandemic has put ordinary life on pause. Perhaps even backwards. Hig flies supplies to a Mennonite community who look like they’re extras from ‘Little House on the Prairie‘. Janney’s air stewardess wears a 1960’s Pan Am uniform. I guess pushing the ‘play’ button and letting things move forward in time is too much to ask for not just the fictional world, but also the film itself.

My rating: 6 / 10

Gladiator II (2024)

  • Director: Ridley Scott
  • Screenplay: David Scarpa
  • Story: Peter Craig, David Scarpa
  • Producer: Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, David Franzoni
  • Cast: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, Denzel Washington
  • Cinematography: John Mathieson
  • Editing: Claire Simpson, Sam Restivo
  • Score: Harry Gregson-Williams
  • Genre: Epic historical
  • Runtime: 148 minutes

Before I watched the original ‘Gladiator‘ (2000), I had low expectations: 3 hours of Russell Crowe fighting Roman soldiers in an arena. Ugh. I was pleasantly surprised however. The acting from Joaquin Phoenix and Oliver Reed was mesmerising and the political scheming won me over.

I question the need for a sequel – the original’s ending was elegiac. Following a quarter of a century in development hell (including a draft written by Nick Cave which saw Maximus resurrected, made immortal and working at the Pentagon – wtf?!), this follow-up essentially treads the same path plot-wise as its predecessor.

We have our protagonist, Lucius (Paul Mescal), nephew of deceased evil Emperor Commodus (Phoenix) and thus heir to the throne. But he doesn’t know this yet – he’s a nobody, living on the Numidian coast with his wife. After losing the battle against the Roman army at the beginning, Lucius is taken into slavery – and just like his father – must become a gladiator to win his freedom. The ‘strength and honour’ motif and the musings on a glorious vision of Rome are so well-trodden by now, it’s impossible to find fresh meaning within them. Lucilla (Connie Nielsen, reprising her role from the first film), Lucius’ mother, yet again plots with the senate to overthrow the emperors – this time, a Romulus and Remus-type double act, who look as though they’re glam rock rejects.

If you’re going to parrot a storyline, at least ensure the performances are equal in quality too. While Mescal is fortunately a better actor than Russell Crowe, Pedro Pascal’s General Acacius barely makes a dent and Denzel Washington (playing arms dealer Macrinus) has a tenth of the gravitas of the late, great Oliver Reed. Nonetheless, as ever, Ridley Scott’s direction is masterful, the music (riffing on Hans Zimmer’s score from ‘Gladiator 1‘) is beautiful and the mix of politics and well-choreographed fight scenes guarantees a worthwhile watch. Are you not entertained? I’d say I was.

Pay the bathroom a visit beforehand – it’s two and a half hours long, about 20 minutes shy of the previous movie’s runtime.

My rating: 6 / 10