Ridley Scott’s 2000 sword-and-sandal epic “Gladiator” closed on a memorable shot that became an indelible image associated with the film: star Russell Crowe’s hands, callused and battle-worn, softly caressing strands of wheat, as the spirit of his character Maximus makes his way home in the afterlife. Scott references this peaceful image in the opening of his sequel, “Gladiator II.” Rough, thick hands, toughened by farming and fighting, plunge into a sack of harvested grain, feeling the fruits of their labor...