“Gladiator II” (*** out of four) was a powerfully done sequel to the 2000 classic about a warrior Lucius (Paul Mescal) whose home is conquered by a tyrannical emperor (Denzel Washington) who now leads Rome and has to enter the Colliseum to engage in battle and restore Rome to its former glory. Director Ridley Scott ably duplicates the grandiosity of the original with his typical extravagant visual flourishes and enough storytelling fire to ovecome occasional lulls. Mescal is rock-solid in the lead and Washington is first-rate and chews up the scenery in a rare comic-villain role.