You will know the most gleeful, instantly gratifying, oh-this-is-going-to-be-goodmoment inGladiator IIwhen you see it.
themano a manoshowdown the movie has been leading up to for close to two hours.
To be fair, that man is played byDenzel Washington.
Denzel Washington in ‘Gladiator II.‘Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures
But that last detail is almost superfluous to what makes the sequence so exciting.
And its not just who is entering the frame, but how hes doing it.
The moody brute is more than just a gladiator to Macrinus, however.
He is a ticket into the inner circle that rules Rome.
But Macrinus is a wild card.
Hes just someone who saw an opportunity and took it.
He cant help it if he was smarter and savvier than the competition.
Oh, and dont talk to him about normal.
When youve lived the life hes lived, that adjective means next to nothing.
Its a jungle out there.
Theres a seductiveness to Washingtons voice, until he decides to get dead serious.
Hell swipe a full coffee cup off a table to punctuate a point.
You hope that the awards-giving powers that be recognize what hes doing here.
