Spartacus: Blood and Sand Review

Recently, I watched the premiere episode of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. If you enjoy senseless highly stylized violence, mixed in with copious amounts of tits and ass, you will definitely want to catch this new series!

Despite the liberal use of English accents and being set in the well-familiar Roman time period, this show should not in any way be compared to HBO’s Rome, which was a much more historically accurate and cerebral experience that what Spartacus could hope to offer.

A Blatant Copy of Past Films?

Instead, after watching a few minutes of Spartacus: Blood and Sand you will immediately see its similarity to such movies as The Gladiator and 300. In fact, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to call this mini series a blatant rip off of either. More specifically, it mirrors The Gladiator’s plot and largely copies 300’s art direction and fight choreography. What the show evidently boils down to is graphic scenes of hand-to-hand combat interrupted by graphic scenes of sex and random nudity.

But I’m not going to harp on the presentation and substance of Spartacus. It offers exactly the kind of mindless testosterone fueled action that certain people enjoy. And that’s what this show is all about – simple entertainment.

You already know the plot, the cast of good and evil characters and the much romanticized time period that his story takes place in. So really, what you’re experiencing is a re-enactment of something many people can’t get enough of – the brave hero who bangs an impossibly hot wife, who has his town destroyed, who must now battle in the arena of death for his life, freedom and honor!

An Adolescent Boy’s Dream

Filled with a cast of hot models, chiseled warriors and teeth gnashing villains, Spartacus is as superficial and contrived as it sounds. There is nothing innovative in its presentation or surprising in its plot (thus far), but that’s fine when you just want to catch some blood letting action and see the entire female cast nude. And there are some very hot women in this show, including Viva Bianca and Erin Cummings.

Conclusion

I could barely watch the first half of the premiere episode knowing exactly what would happen and the premise that was being set, but I did manage to finish it and I’ll probably tune in for the next episode. To its credit, the production values are quite high and the action isn’t half-bad; I just wish they’d invest in an original plot and used less slow-motion in the action scenes. But who knows, perhaps they’ve left a surprise or two in the coming episodes and things will improve. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Have you seen Spartacus: Blood and Sand yet? What are your thoughts?