WELL, LET’S HOPE SO: ‘Your dad’s favorite film of the year:’ early Gladiator II reactions revealed.

With Gladiator, [Ridley Scott] appears to have belatedly rediscovered his talent for grand storytelling. That’s judging by the social media responses that have been published (the embargo for full-blown reviews doesn’t lift until next Monday, 11 November).

“He’s still got it – absolutely buzzing,” tweeted FilmSpeak’s Griffin Schiller. “An epic Shakespearean tale of hope, futility and power within a crumbling system,” he added – which sounds more like a Manchester United biopic than a Roman epic, but there you go.

Other reviewers were just as effusive. “‘Welcome back to the f–king movies.’ That sums up Gladiator II,” says Clayton Davis of Variety, while Simon Thompson of The Playlist felt that it “dovetailed stylishly with the original”. Luke Hearfield, meanwhile, tipped his hat to Scott’s direction: “This swords & sandals epic is easily his best film in ages and will be your dad’s fav film of 2024.”

At least going by the trailers, it seems like the best of an otherwise glum slate of movies scheduled to come out around Thanksgiving.