After 24 years of collaboration, Gladiator II cinematographer John Mathieson seemed to have slammed filmmaker Ridley Scott calling him impatient. He also criticised Ridley’s “lazy” approach to storytelling.

John Mathieson speaks up

During an interview on The DocFix Documentary Storytelling Podcast, John criticised Ridley's filming process on Gladiator 2.

He said, “It’s really lazy. 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... He is quite impatient so he likes to get as much as he can at once. It’s not very good for cinematography.”

Talking about Ridley’s use of multiple cameras, John added, “He is quite impatient so he likes to get as much as he can at once. It’s not very good for cinematography,” he explained, saying it means you “can only light from one angle. Look at his older films and getting depth into things was very much part of lighting. You can’t do that with a lot of cameras but he just wants to get it all done. Having lots of cameras I don’t think has made the films any better…It’s a bit rush, rush, rush. That’s changed in him. But that’s the way he wants to do it and I don’t like it and I don’t think many people do, but people love his films and he’s Ridley Scott and can do what he wants".

He shared that people want to shoot multiple cameras because they get lots of performances and they put lots of people in, but he feels it lacks care. John shared that the makers are more concerned about covering stuff.

Ridley has released four films in the last three years: The Last Duel, House of Gucci, Napoleon, and Gladiator II. He also has eight projects currently in development, including his next film The Dog Stars, starring Paul Mescal, and Gladiator III.

About Gladiator 2

Gladiator 2 stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger, Lior Raz, Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, and Denzel Washington. Derek and Connie reprise their roles from the first film, with Paul replacing Spencer Treat Clark. He plays Lucius, the son of Maximus and Lucilla, who becomes a gladiator after his home is invaded by the Roman army led by General Marcus Acacius. The film was released on November 15. The Paramount Pictures film is the sequel to a movie that won the Best Picture Oscar two decades ago

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