gladiatorial combat

The impression instead is of an open, porous space where the actors not appearing at that particular moment often sit to one side, primed for action or for gladiatorial combat, even — something Mescal will soon be exploring onscreen.

What could be more symbolic of a paradigm shift than having Jeff Bridges, who had starred in Michael Cimino’s disastrous, industry-changing 1980 western “Heaven’s Gate,” beamed against his will into 3-D gladiatorial combat by a sentient artificial intelligence with echoes of the malevolent HAL 9000 from “2001?”

What could be more symbolic of a paradigm shift than having Jeff Bridges, who had starred in Michael Cimino’s disastrous, industry-changing 1980 western “Heaven’s Gate,” beamed against his will into 3-D gladiatorial combat by a sentient artificial intelligence with echoes of the malevolent HAL 9000 from “2001?”

Writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk, whose film career is marked by its variety, does not have a history with genre pieces, and there is some serious exploration of social and character dynamics in between sequences of mass carnage and gladiatorial combat.

The process feels like something between trying to nab highly sought-after Beyoncé tickets and gladiatorial combat.