Paul McGuire Grimes, creator of Paul’s Trip to the Movies, gives us his take on 3 new movies.

GLADIATOR II (in theaters)

Ridley Scott wowed audiences with his 2000 film Gladiator, which went on to win 5 Oscars including Best Picture. He’s back and expanding on that story with Gladiator II. In the first film, we saw Maximus and Lucilla’s young son Lucious sent off to live in hiding as a mode of protection and survival. He’s now grown up and played by Paul Mescal who finds his city and people under attack by the Roman empire. His wife is killed under the command of Marcus Acacius. This sets up this story of revenge for Lucious. His skills in the gladiator ring fighting wild beasts makes him a hot commodity and he’s sold off to be a slave under Macrinus. Macrinus knows the fall of Roman empire is imminent as he plots his next few moves against Emperor Geta and Emperor Caracalla. They’re a pair of mischievous and immature twins who hold too much power in Rome.

-Starring: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Fred Hechinger

–Gladiator II may sound like it has this complex plot, but it’s really a revenge story at the core with a young new leader and the cavalcade of personalities around him.

-Director Ridley Scott wastes no time at drawing his audience in by opening the film with a massive battle sequence that’s bloody, in your face, and a reminder of the kinds of battles that Ridley Scott and his team excel at with every movie he makes.

-Having a new cast helps set this apart without having too many direct comparisons to the first film. It doesn’t feel like an aged reboot or remake. We’re seeing Rome in a weaker, desperate state surrounded by selfish and unintelligent individuals desperate to hold onto power.

-The stakes feel incredibly high for Lucious, and Paul Mescal brings that brutish force to him as he fights his way from slave to gladiator to free man.

-A heightened film like this needs the ultimate villain opposite Mescal’s hero. That role belongs to Denzel Washington who understands every beat to play as his characters states, “Violence is the universal language” He’s the kind of actor who can flourish about in one scene and then cut daggers with his eyes indicating he’s two steps ahead of everyone else.

–Gladiator II is Ridley Scott’s best films since The Martian, and it’s a treat to see a director of his caliber continue to execute a massive film like this at this stage of his career. It’s the kind of entertaining escapism many could use right now.

RATING: 4 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

EMILIA PEREZ (Netflix)

If you hear someone bemoan that they don’t make any original stories in Hollywood anymore, point them to the new film, Emilia Perez. This is a movie musical unlike anything else you’ve seen. Zoe Saldaña plays, Rita, a successful lawyer who is looking for her next job. She deserves a bigger more high-profile case. She’s kidnapped by a Mexican cartel leader named Manitas Del Monte who makes her an incredible offer. He wants Rita to find a secret doctor who will operate a gender reassignment surgery on him. He wants to leave his life behind, fake his death, and live his true authentic self. The surgery happens with Manitas disappearing and living her new life under the name Emilia Perez. Karla Sofía Gascón plays Manitas/Emilia. Four years later, Rita bumps into Emilia and realizes who she is. She’s brought back into Emilia’s life working with her on a new mission. The film also stars Selena Gomez as Manitas, wife, Jessi.

-This extraordinary film is the brainchild of writer, director Jaquces Audiard who dares to make a film unlike anything audiences have ever seen with the sensitivity its subject needs.

–Emilia Perez defies genre as it’s part drama, part action film, part movie musical all rolled into one, much like Baz Lurhman’s take on Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge. It’s not long into the film when you realize you’re watching something special and unique.

-Zoe Saldana made her big break with the dance film Center Stage, and it feels like Emilia Perez is using all of her skills as an actress and dancer in ways we haven’t seen from her before. Saldana gives everything she has in her arsenal as Rita. It’s a role she was born to play, and it pays off tremendously.

-Jacques Audiard knows he’s tackling a trans story with a very unique perspective. The casting of out trans actress Karla Sofia Gascon in the dual role of Manitas and Emilia reiterates the importance of representation on screen with trans actors playing trans roles. This film would not work if you had a cisgender actor playing this trans role.

-Karla Sofia Gascon is a revelation giving Emilia texture and layers that hopefully ring true to the audience.

-Selena Gomez should not be forgotten in the conversations about this film, as she’s firing on all cylinders with Jessi.

-When Emilia Perez allows herself to be her most authentic self, she changes and becomes a better person hoping and inspiring change for her community.  Emilia Perez is an incredibly eye-opening film. It’s asking for empathy and compassion as Rita states, “to listen is to accept”

RATING: 5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS

HERETIC (in theaters)

Hugh Grant is in his villain era in the suspenseful new film Heretic. It starts innocent enough as we see two young missionary women discussing sex and all things they’ve been led to be shameful of. Chloe East plays Sister Paxton who is quite talkative and a firm believer in her faith. Sophie Thatcher plays Sister Barnes who is a bit more reserved and quieter. They’re members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who need to go door knocking to increase their number of baptisms and drum up interest in the church. It’s cold and rainy when they knock on the door of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) He’s charming and invites them inside his home insisting his wife is inside making blueberry pies. They comply and find themselves in a stark home, that’s old-fashioned in its decoration with a leaky roof and bad wallpaper. At first, Sister Paxton is impressed by Mr. Reed’s knowledge of world religions. Their conversations on theology and faith take a sharp turn as the two sisters realize he’s been lying about everything. There’s no escape when the doors lock behind them and they’re cell phones no longer receive service

-There are plenty of horror movies out there that are based on religious themes, but they tend to be possession movies, as jump scares are easy material. Heretic feels refreshing in that it doesn’t demonize religion and theology but uses them as thematic questions at play.

-It’s a dialogue heavy first half that plays out like a think piece. It gets more and more claustrophobic as the girls bide their time and the tension mounts. It takes a wild spin about an hour in that shifts what’s at stake.

-Hugh Grant seems tailor-made for this role using his usual charming personality to lure the women in and keep them at a short distance.

-Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods use the uneasiness and tension to build up the horror in this game of survival for the young women. Most of the film takes place in Mr. Reed’s house which acts as a vital character in the film. There are tricks and secrets around every turn adding to that atmospheric terror.

-Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have a smart thriller on their hands as they pepper the audience with questions about faith and organized religion. There’s a dark twisted sense of humor along the way to balance it nicely as Hugh Grant dishes out a diabolical turn.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 TICKET STUBS