Gladiator II looks like a copy of the original – but here's why the trailer is still causing frenzied excitement

The trailer release has inspired a huge response, despite suggesting the Paul Mescal-starring sequel will copy the original. It's an "ain't broke don't fix it" formula that could fly.

"The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an empire. From director Ridley Scott…" You could run the voiceover for a trailer for the original Gladiator over the new trailer for its sequel and it would still seem reasonably accurate.

The plot of the 2000 film boils down to "Roman unjustly brought low uses his prowess in the gladiatorial arena to effect revenge on those who wronged him" and, so far as we can tell, it also applies to Gladiator II, due to be released in November.

Yet despite the fact that the new film seems to be a retread of the first, its trailer was greeted with frenzied excitement when released on Tuesday. Countless fans took to social media to declare, as the movie meme has it, "This is cinema". This is undoubtedly partly to do with the Oscar-winning brilliance of the original. 

Russell Crowe, in the title role, was never better. The action scenes were relentless, thrilling and visceral. The dialogue was eminently quotable. Even people who may not particularly the movie as a whole know "Are you not entertained">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });