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Is Spartacus a brave and compassionate man, or a single-minded idealist? Is Crixus's devotion to Naevia admirable or selfish? Is Agron a pragmatic leader or a selfish brat? What's interesting is that three of the main characters in Vengeance-Spartacus, Crixus, and Agron-all have different opinions on almost everything that happens, despite being on the same side, which makes for very different interpretations of their characters.
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SPARTACUS BLOOD AND SAND SERIES
The series is about as subtle on this as it is on violence and Fanservice. Anvilicious: If there's any Aesop or moral to be taken from Spartacus, it's that slavery is BAD.And while one can hardly expect a budget on the scale of “Avatar,” the stylized, washed-out backgrounds and crowd sequences simply aren’t up to the standards of a young-male audience weaned on better. To be fair, the program does improve marginally after the premiere, but by then the bar’s set so low a three-legged horse could clear it. Unlike the sex, no one could call the violence gratuitous, since it’s the sole reason the show exists - an excuse to artfully spray slow-motion patterns of entrails and severed limbs across the screen. DeKnight, lines of dialogue at times appear to uncomfortably echo those earlier movies, which is less irksome than it would be otherwise, because the less-familiar exchanges (“My boot will find your ass in the afterlife”) are frequently risible. Sure, there’s some graphic sex and modest court intrigue among the haughty Romans, but nothing to approach the worst moments in HBO’s “Rome.” (“Xena’s” Lucy Lawless - the wife of series producer Robert Tapert - loyally chips in as Batiatus’ lustful spouse, who has an insatiable hunger for gladiators and, like the rest of the cast, scenery.) What ensues, alas, is the gladiator’s life as filtered through the gauzy lens of a Calvin Klein ad. Separated from his woman (Erin Cummings), he essentially girds his loins to endure all manner of torment in order to survive, on the outside chance the two might be reunited, which includes bonding himself to gladiator master Batiatus (“The Mummy’s” John Hannah) and his steely trainer, Doctore (Peter Mensah, whose “300” cameo provides a promotionally advantageous link). There is, however, considerable irritation over such a brazen, at-times-laughable attempt to piggyback on their success.Ī Thracian warrior, the strong-willed man eventually christened Spartacus ( Andy Whitfield) joins with the Romans to fight off a common enemy, but winds up being thrown into the gladiatorial arena when he refuses to obey their commands.
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Just to put this appraisal in context, the original 1960 classic remains a personal favorite, and I’m extremely fond of the other aforementioned efforts - so this hardly represents an aversion to swords and sandals.