Posted: 12/10/2009

Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Premiering On Starz January 22

(2010)

by Michael Tucker

Many movie channels have successful series. HBO has Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Showtime has Dexter and Californication. Starz can only offer up Crash as way of competition. In an effort to compete more with the big dogs, they have released a new series to air in January, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Just hearing mention of this show, I instantly expected war, possibly similar to 300. I was wrong!

Historically, Spartacus was a great, yet troubled gladiator in Ancient Rome. A Thoracian, was caught by war-heroes of Rome, thrown in the Coliseum, and given our equivalent of the death penalty – four killing machines against Spartacus. He comes out victorious, the only one left living. He was bought, then trained as a gladiator. Spartacus covers the troubles of him and his family.

Watching it, the fighting, which is often, was an instant draw. As any young guy, I also liked what was just as frequent, the sexual activity. If you liked 300, you’d take interest in this direction of Spartacus. Additionally, this series is great for those history buffs, as it shows accurate info an an amazing gladiator.

However, it did seem to have more similarity to 300 than it needed. The slow-motion killing scenes are what tipped me off. Spartacus was also being kind of a baby about his missing wife. I wasn’t looking for that family drama in this series as much as I wanted to see some hardcore action.

Certain things will always stick out to you. I noticed the frequent cussing, which seemed out of character. I doubt that people in that area went around dropping the F-bomb and talking about the God’s “parts.” There was also a really odd jealousy between friends, and I don’t know if that would have bee appropriate to the era either.

Overall, Spartacus: Blood and Sand looks like a great show. There are great fighting scenes and good sex. There are some dull, dramatic parts, but what show doesn’t have these? However, come January, this will be a show I will be watching.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand premieres on Starz on Friday, January 22.

Michael Tucker is an AP Literature and Composition student in high school, and writes recaps and reviews at Reality Shack.

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