Viva Bianca

TV Review: B-Movie Take on Legendary Hero Thrills in Starz’s Bloody Hit ‘Spartacus: Vengeance’

BrianTT — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:53:33 -0500

CHICAGO – “Let us split darkness with the cries of Romans.” Boobs, blood, and betrayal — “Spartacus” must be back. Following up on the action of the beloved “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” and coming on the heels of the most critical acclaim in the history of the network (“Boss”), Starz hopes to keep momentum going with the well-made if ridiculous “Spartacus: Vengeance.” The long-awaited season premiere, airing tonight, January 27th, 2012, works as it should, not changing the formula too drastically from season one and delivering “300”-esque thrills on Friday nights.

Television Rating: 3.5/5.0

What most fans of “Spartacus” will want to know is simple — How does Liam McIntyre fill the big sandals of the tragically-departed Andy Whitfield (who passed away from cancer last September)? The good news is that the new Spartacus is cut from the same mold. McIntyre is a square-jawed alpha male, the kind of guy that one can easily believe would have people follow him into battle. He is charismatic and engaging, a very solid lead for a show like this one. I think Whitfield was one of the strengths of “Blood and Sand,” but it’s a testament to McIntyre’s skill that I almost immediately got used to the idea of a new Spartacus.

Spartacus: Vengeance
Photo credit: Starz

The title this season says it all. Batiatus is dead and Spartacus and his freed gladiators are on the run. Sort of. They’re hidden underground, trying to stay out of the eye of the power structure looking for their heads, but also clearly in search of vengeance. Do you flee from the powerful force that has destroyed your life once you gain freedom or do you turn around and enact revenge? Such is the question at the heart of “Spartacus: Vengeance” and it makes for strong storytelling. Great swords-and-sandals fiction has always pivoted on issues relatable to modern man — most typically, vengeance as in “Gladiator” and “300” — and the writers of “Spartacus: Vengeance” understand the need to not weigh their piece down in too much period melodrama. At its core, it’s a show about a leader of exiled men forced to reconcile his need for vengeance with a role that requires he doesn’t get the few people left on his side killed.

Spartacus: Vengeance
Photo credit: Starz

A few familiar faces return from “Blood and Sand” (and even the prequel “Gods of the Arena”) along with some new ones including the great Lucy Lawless as Lucretia Batiatus, Peter Mensah as Oenomaus, Manu Bennett as Crixus, Katrina Law as Mira, Viva Bianca as Ilithyia, Craig Parker as Gaius Claudius Glaber, and Dustin Clare as Gannicus. Lawless steals the piece whenever she’s on the screen. She’s so completely committed to the lunacy of her character that she’s riveting. As for the rest, they’re a mixed bag. Some over-act but that can often be right for the material. Bianca and Clare make the biggest impact in the premiere.

If one looks too deeply at individual elements of “Spartacus: Vengeance” on a critical level, it kind of falls apart. The sheer number of slow-motion sex or violence shots would make B-movie icons cry foul. It is so far over the top that it can’t even see it any more and yet the writers take it as seriously as Shakespeare. The season premiere features such a ludicrous orgy scene (featuring wine being poured on people and more skin than you would usually see in an entire Skinemax movie) that one has to admire the producers for refusing to hold anything back in an attempt to entertain their audience. A man who is about to orgasm has a knife shoved through his throat from behind. Put the kids to bed before this one.

The sheer audacity of “Vengeance” is somewhat admirable. It’s difficult to come down on some of the wooden line delivery of a few of the actors or the dialogue which seems even thinner and more expository than last year (everyone explains what they’re doing and why they’re doing it to the nth degree) because it’s not what really matters here. It’s not a coincidence that a Roman leader bemoans the lack of quality fighters in his arena because he is concerned that a dearth of blood-soaked entertainment will allow the audience to realize that their lives are increasingly troubled. We need better fighters to distract from real life. “Spartacus: Vengeance” is a better fighter.

“Spartacus: Vengeance” stars Liam McIntyre, Lucy Lawless, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Katrina Law, Viva Bianca, Craig Parker, and Dustin Clare. It premieres on Starz on January 27th, 2012 at 9pm CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Guilty Pleasures of ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’

BrianTT — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:07:13 -0400

CHICAGO – “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” is a ridiculous program, a mix of pretentious dialogue that thinks its more important than it is, elaborate battle sequences shot in slo-mo to hide the show’s budget, and historical inaccuracies on an epic scale. And yet it’s also remarkably enjoyable. It’s a guilty pleasure program that has developed a rabid following on Starz and should put the network on the map when it comes to original series with the help of an excellent Blu-ray release for the first season.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” appears to be attempting a record for televised slow-motion blood spumes. And it’s going for it after only one episode. With more grunting than your average Skinemax movie (and more skin for that matter), it can be difficult to take the drama of the program seriously but this is one of those unusual shows were standard critical appraisal starts to fall away. Is it traditionally “good”? Not really. But it’s fun enough that you won’t really care. And it looks amazing in HD.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand: The Complete First Season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 21st, 2010
Photo credit: Anchor Bay

Clearly inspired by the stylized look of “300” with the more emotional notes of “Gladiator,” Starz’s program centers around a man betrayed by his own people, the Romans. Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) is then ripped from the love of his life Sura (the gorgeous Erin Cummings) and sold into slavery to Quintus Lentulus Batiatus (John Hannah) and his wife (Lucy Lawless). Over 13 episodes, Spartacus is trained, fights, and leads his new people in a revolt against the Romans.

“Spartacus: Blood and Sand” can be visceral fun, but a bit too much of the program plays like a Linkin Park music video with exaggerated effects and overcooked camera tricks. And the remarkable amount of bare breasts and bloodied bodies can’t help but feel like a device meant to disguise the lack of actual drama. How many of the record-setting (for Starz) viewers of the show tuned in purely for the sex and violence? It’s well-done sex and violence, to be sure, but it’s essentially a smoke and mirrors act. If you took those elements out of the program, it probably wouldn’t have half the viewership that it does.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand: The Complete First Season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 21st, 2010
Photo credit: Anchor Bay

The dialogue in “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” reaches laughable levels on several occasions (as in when Batiatus looks to the skies and says to the Gods, “I beg you: Do not f**k me.”) but the over-the-top nature of the program starts to blur together into an accomplished guilty pleasure. “Blood and Sand” never takes itself too seriously, always keenly aware that it is nothing more than swords-and-sandals drama in a market where typical restrictions on breasts and blood have been removed.

And the cast is not bad. Whitfield has undeniable screen presence and it’s a shame that his recent illness is going to pull him out of this program that could have made him a star. And supporting performers like Hannah and Lawless add credibility to the proceedings that lift it above the moments when it feels like a bad pay-cable midnight movie.

So, is “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” a good show? Yes and no. There’s something almost refreshing about a visceral program that focuses so completely on the base human desires for lust and carnage. The dialogue and level of pretension may be awful, but it’s hard not to get swept up in the ridiculousness of it all and simply go along for the ride. “Blood and Sand” is mostly trash, but it’s well-done and highly-entertaining trash.

The gorgeously-transferred video on the Anchor Bay Blu-ray help what could be deemed a softball approach critically. A show like “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” simply needs to look great to work and it truly does in HD. A series of featurettes offer some behind-the-scenes details on the program and round out a surprisingly-strong release for a surprisingly-enjoyable program.

Special Features:
o Audio Commentary
o MovieIQ
o Spartacus Historicus: Pop-Up History
o Behind The Scenes
o Battle Royale
o Gladiator Boot Camp
o Grime And Punishment
o Andy Gets Plastered
o Legend Re-Imagined
o Oh, Those Randy Romans
o Shooting Green: The Shadow of Death
o Exposing Your Ludus

“Spartacus: Blood and Sand: The Complete First Season” stars Andy Whitfield, Lucy Lawless, John Hannah, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Viva Bianca, Erin Cummings, and Nick E. Tarabay. It was created by Steven S. DeKnight. It was released on September 21st, 2010. It is not rated and runs 692 minutes.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com