Gladiator IIsubtly fixes a mistake that Ridley Scott’s original made back in 2000, earning an enthusiastic reaction from VFX artists. Hitting theaters last November, the sequel toGladiatorfollows Paul Mescal’s Lucius as he becomes a hero of the Colosseum more than 15 years after the death of Russell Crowe’s Maximus.Gladiator 2reviewswere generally positive from critics overall, but the movie, which also stars Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, and Connie Nielsen, was criticized for relying more heavily on VFX than its predecessor.
In a new episode of their “VFX Artists React” YouTube series, the VFX artists atCorridor Crewanalyze some ofGladiator 2’s VFX moments, generally praising the mix of CGI and practical effects that ends up on screen. When taking a look at the movie’s opening fortress siege, they point out thatthe film also cleverly uses VFX shields to hide camera operators in the middle of a shot.
“Wait, those are camera guys?” co-host Wren Weichman asks, surprised, after not initially seeing the camera operators in the pre-VFX shots. Co-host Jordan Allen then points out how the shields fix a moment from the originalGladiatorwhere a camera operator is clearly visible in the stands of an arena:
“I’m sorry but I can’t accept this. That flies in the face of Gladiator lore. You’re supposed to leave the cameramen visible. Haven’t you ever seen in the original Gladiator there’s a cameraman visible in the stadium? You’re supposed to leave the cameraman.”
What Gladiator 2’s VFX Fix Means For Ridley Scott
What One Scott Collaborator Has Said About The Director’s Methods
When it comes to putting massive battle sequences on screen, few can do it with the confidence and ease that Scott can. The 87-year-old director memorably did this in the originalGladiatorwith the opening battle, but he also pulled off similarly impressive sequences in movies likeKingdom of Heaven(2005),Black Hawk Down(2001), andNapoleon(2023). At least one collaborator, however, has criticized his methods.
All Locations In Gladiator 2 Explained
Lucius' journey in Gladiator II takes him across the vast Roman empire, with stops at a number of locations important to the slave trade.
In an interview withThe DocFix Documentary Storytelling Podcast,Gladiator 2cinematographer and frequent Scott collaborator John Mathieson criticized the director for his “reallylazy” filmmaking methods. It’s now relatively well known thatScott likes to have many cameras going at once while filming, especially so for major battle sequences. According to Mathieson, this approach necessitates removing camera operators and equipment from shots in post production, and it also makes scenes much harder to light since they’re being shot from multiple angles:
“He is quite impatient so he likes to get as much as he can at once. It’s not very good for cinematography […]
“It’s the CG [computer graphic] elements now of tidying-up, leaving things in shot, cameras in shot, microphones in shot, bits of set hanging down, shadows from booms. And they just said [on Gladiator II], ‘Well, clean it up.'”
Our Take On Gladiator 2’s Hidden Camera Operators
How Much Do They Really Hurt The Movie?
Though Mathieson’s comments suggest that Scott’s methods have changed in recent years, the fact that a camera operator wasvisible in the originalGladiatordoes suggest that, to some extent, he has been making movies like this for decades. Previously, however, with visual effects not where they are today, more attention had to be paid to keep camera operators and equipment out of sight.Gladiator 2is arguably not as good as the original movies for a handful of reasons, including the script, but it’s possible that Scott’s new approach to making movies is at least partially to blame.
Gladiator 2has a 71% critics’ ‘score onRotten Tomatoescompared to 80% for the original movie.
At the same time, though, the scene inGladiator 2that features the VFX shields hiding the camera operators doesn’t really stand out. The VFX shields are part of a much larger, very dynamic scene, andthey’re only really noticeable if someone is specifically looking for them(or they see a before-and-after VFX breakdown). There are likely other scenes inGladiator 2that feature similar effects, and some viewers are now sure to attempt to spot other instances of cameras being hidden.
