Spartacus: Vengeance - First Look

Plot
The series picks up soon after the events depicted in 'Blood and Sand'. Spartacus and his band of rebels are terrorising Capua and so the Roman Republic dispatch Praetor Claudius Glaber to deal with it.


Reasons To Be Excited
+ This is history in it’s rawest form and it seems that the shows makers are keen to shock. There’s certainly no pussy footing around.


+ Liam McIntyre is great as Spartacus having taken the role formaly played by the now deceased Andy Whitfield.


+ From the get go there is action as Spartacus and his men go on rampage after rampage.

Spartacus goes to war!

+ There are a lot of familiar faces from ‘Blood And Sand’. Crixus is back and fighting alongside Spartacus. Oenomaus also makes a very welcome return. He was a big part of Blood and Sand as the trainer of Gladiators at the house of Batiatus. Another shock returnee is Lucretia Batiatus. She was last seen watching her husband die after the rebels masacred everyone at the end of ‘Blood And Sand’. Others due to return are Ashur and Gannicus. Gannicus was the main gladiator in the prequel mini series ‘Gods Of The Arena’.


+ There are signs that the series is going to shock as it continues. In the first episode alone there were 5 truly shocking moments that you won’t see coming.


Things That Might Let It Down
+ There is a lot of sex and at times it got a bit uncomfortable.


+ The gore factor might not be to everyone's tastes. There were times when I grimaced and almost looked away.


+ While attempting to be as realistic as possible, the strange dialogue began to annoy me. Saying that, it did in both ‘Blood And Sand’ and ‘Gods Of The Arena’


+ The native accents of the actors comes through now and again. While Manu Bennett is one of the best things about the show as Crixus, he struggles to hide his New Zealand accent despite the fact that Crixus is a Gaul.


My View

The late Andy Whitfield

When I heard of Andy Whitfields sad death last year I honestly couldn't see how the series could carry on. Spartacus was such a central character to the show that recasting him seemed unthinkable. Could you imagine anyone playing Dexter other than Michael C Hall for example or how about Jack Bauer being portrayed by a different actor besides Kiether Sutherland. It just wouldn't happen. Had Andy played Spartacus for longer than one season then I have no doubt that the show would've ended before the role was recast. It has worked though and although Andy Whitfield made a great Spartacus, Liam McIntyre does the role the justice it deserves. Spartacus has changed since Blood And Sand. He is harder and has a sense of weariness and McIntyre plays those things to perfection.

Spartacus and Crixus are on the same side this time.

     The series has certainly began in the right way. The action is plentiful with 3 big battle sequences in the 1st episode alone. As I said at the beginning of this review though, this is history in it's rawest form. There is flesh aplenty with on big sequence being set at a huge orgy portraying all manner of sexual exploits. 


     It's the scenes with Spartacus and Crixus that are what makes this show what it is. A lot of the supporting cast are easily forgotten aside from the brilliant Oenomaus and I literally cheered when he first came on screen. Spartacus and Crixus are 2 huge characters though and it's great to see them teaming up in battle. Their relationship is a complex one though and it will be interesting to see how it plays out in the coming weeks, especially when Gannicus makes his return to the show. 


First Opinion - 8/10


Potential - 9/10