“Gladiator II” is an “enjoyably dumb sequel to the brawny Ridley Scott epic that won the best picture Oscar nearly a quarter-century ago,” writes Times columnist Glenn Whipp.

“Gladiator II,” the enjoyably dumb sequel to the brawny Ridley Scott epic that won the best picture Oscar nearly a quarter-century ago, has just finished its premiere screening on the Paramount Pictures lot.

Similarly, The Independent awarded the film two-stars and said that there are some "wonderful gags and enjoyably grotesque clowning from Keaton" but Burton's "ability to tell a coherent story is very much in doubt".

In the “Neeson skills” canon, “In the Land of Saints and Sinners” proves to be a gem, the performances elevating a enjoyably pulpy thriller.

But plenty of others found it to be enjoyably silly, even if it was unlikely to show up in award show lists.