Dave Portnoy Thinks Gladiator 2 Sucks: He's Right

Going viral on X over the last day are tweets and a video from Dave Portnoy, the owner of Barstool Sports, blasting Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2.

Dave isn’t wrong—Ridley Scott essentially turns Gladiator 2 into a poor man’s Gladiator. It’s just a rehashed, lower-quality version of the original. Think Star Wars: The Force Awakens from Disney.

Dave’s right

Before we dive into what Dave has to say, here’s a rant of my own:

Dave also thinks something is wrong with Rotten Tomatoes—and he’s right. The site is owned by Fandango, which sells movie tickets, so there’s definitely no conflict of interest there (wink). It’s also well known that many reviewers shill for the industry.

Recently, Rotten Tomatoes changed its Audience Score system so that only reviews from fans who bought tickets through the Fandango app count. That means if you saw Gladiator 2 but purchased tickets elsewhere or watched it on streaming, your review doesn’t count. Likewise, if you bought multiple tickets for friends or family through the Fandango app, their reviews won’t count either.

Rotten Tomatoes also added a threshold where critic and audience scores won’t be displayed until a certain number of reviews are posted—clearly done to suppress potential negative reactions before a film’s release, much like limiting the audience score to only verified purchases. That’s exactly why I created my own fan review site, Stinky Garbage (in beta).

Also as I’ve gone over – and I seem to be the only one doing it – the shill movie entertainment news media acted like Gladiator 2 was a massive success. It wasn’t, it bombed. It finished at less than $500 million worldwide. It finished with only $463 million. The budget was a massive $350 million. That’s a bomb. With inflation factored in, the first film made nearly $850M in today’s dollars.

When Black Adam was released, the same shill media went after Dwayne Johnson, calling the movie a flop for making around $400 million on a $250 million budget. Well, do the math—how is Gladiator 2 considered a success? Paramount also dumped it on streaming less than a month after release.

gladiator 2 first look paul mescal pedro pascal

What does Dave Portnoy say about Gladiator 2?

Back to what Portnoy says about Gladiator 2 (watch the video below)—he had been eagerly waiting for the sequel, but when he finally saw it, Dave says it wasn’t good.

“Just watched Gladiator 2. They shoulda never made it. I don’t know how this had good reviews. It sucked,” he tweeted which has been seen 3.5 million times.

Just watched Gladiator 2. They shoulda never made it. I don’t know how this had good reviews. It sucked.
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 2, 2025

Regarding the reviews, it has a 71% Rotten Tomatoes score, which is considered “Fresh.” The fan score is 82%. For comparison, the first Gladiator, released in 2000, has an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics and an 87% fan score.

In the video, watched 3.9 million times on X, Portnoy rants about the film.

“I got to do a quick rant because I’m that mad. I’ve been saving Gladiator 2 for a couple months now. I love ‘Gladiator’ 1. I’m like, ‘I need a Saturday night where I’m locked in, seatbelt on, popcorn, Cheez-Its, you name it.’ Like I’m ready to roll…”

“How has nobody told me that ‘Gladiator 2’ is like the worst movie ever f’n made. You’re telling me it’s a 71 critics score [on Rotten Tomatoes] and an 82? [spits] Puke. This movie sucked. It was so not believable, any of it.”

Dave Portnoy also doesn’t like the cast and characters, particularly the two twins played by Fred Hechinger, and Joseph Quinn who stars in Marvel’s upcoming Fantastic Four this summer as Johnny Storm the Human Torch.

Who cast the two emperors? The twin emperors. What? Did they take one second casting those f’n clowns? Like those clowns would be emperor of Rome? They get f’n their heads cut off in one second.

Portnoy also didn’t like Denzel Washington who plays Macrinus.

Denzel, who goes from like Bonnie, and Paul Mescal, the slave, Bonnie and him, to waltzing into Rome, and he’s like king three seconds later. Like what world are we talking about?

Portnoy also blasts Ridley Scott and hopes Russell Crowe hates it.

This movie sucked. I hope you don’t watch it. Ridley Scott should be ashamed for making the sequel. I hope Russell Crowe puked on himself. Gracchus, the guy with the white hair who’s in the first one, they just kill him like he’s a nobody. The Queen, the lady, she gets f’n murdered. Why do we have Paul Mescal and his son both in the movie but they don’t know each other? The whole thing stinks. I wouldn’t wish this [shakes head back and forth]…

Regarding Rotten Tomatoes, Portnoy continues and thinks there is something wrong.

Rotten Tomatoes? There’s gotta be some sort of conspiracy in Rotten Tomatoes. Somebody is getting paid under the table at Rotten Tomatoes. A 71 / 82 for Gladiator 2?