Blood And Villainy Highlight This Six Part Prequel To The Starz Sensation
When the first season of the Starz original production of "Spartacus: Blood & Sand" came to its frenzied and gore soaked conclusion, I screamed in horror as my favorite evil doers lay in pools of blood. Okay, first I was laughing delightedly at the over-the-top genius and spectacle of that last episode--but then I realized that the second season might go on without the cunning antics of Lucy Lawless and John Hannah. And that, my friends, is a scary thought--because their diabolical machinations were a principle selling point of the show! For the record, I don't know their specific fate--but visually it didn't look very promising! However, when lead Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with cancer, it left the second season upended to see what would happen. Whitfield did, indeed, have to drop out--but the series went forward with another actor cast. This delay, however, caused the creation of the six part "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" prequel. And while not as instantly compelling as its...
Excellent - but what's up with the price?!
Excellent series and a great prequel that fills in back stories mentioned in Blood & Sand. And again we're left wondering about Lucretia's fate since there is still movement when they show the final scene of Blood & Sand in the beginning of Gods of the Arena.
But jeez, what's with price of the 6-episode series being almost as much as the 13-episode original season? And that's even with Amazon's 30% off...
Different, but the same
Gods of the Arena came about due to the illness of Andy Whitfield (godspeed on a full recovery), so in essence, this isn't part of the Spartacus: Blood and Sand story, but rather a prequel. The show, is different, and yet the same.
We've still got Quintus and Lucretia (who deserve each other) constantly plotting against all that gets in the way of their devious pursuits of fame and power. In addition, we get the back story of Oenomaus, Crixus, and Ashur, who play important roles in the Blood and Sand series.
We also get to see the building moral decline of Quintus and Lucretia through their association with Gaia, and the seedy elements she brings to the House of Batiatus.
Spartucus: Gods of the Arena exceeded my expectations, and was a wild ride well worth watching.
There are plenty of twists and turns that will keep the viewer guessing, and most often they don't turn out the way one would expect.
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment