Spartacus: Vengeance on Starz - Page 5

Remind me if they use "fake" penises (like female "rugs") in the show..

Yes they do.


OMG Why. Snooki and Jwoww do Spartacus.

Crix usssss! Crix usssss!

Good thing Mira can read a map.

This Spartacus can't fight to save his life. He couldn't land a punch on that guard in the mines. He tried twice and the guard evaded his punch. Pathetic.

He then was punched in the face himself. The Spartacus of S1 would have kicked his ass. The new Spartacus is a wimp. He just can't fight.

I agree. He's also about as motivational as my accountant.

I'm just wondering why the directors are portraying him as such a weakling. The same guy who took out like 8 Roman guards with a wooden sword, 3 on one, can't land a punch on a single guard, not once but twice ? Just very inconsistent. The guy is human sure, but there is a huge disparity between the Spartacus in S1 and the fighting abilities in S2. It's pathetic and weak.

The Spartacus in S1 was a good fighter before he was enslaved. I was always going to be critical of his fighting abilities in second season especially after what we saw in S1, so I should have known it would never have been consistent. It's not like the fight choreographers can't depict him as the warrior he was in S1, but instead he is depicted as a slightly above average fighter who has the build of an average slave. He is like the smallest gladiator on the show. Even some of the common slaves look bigger than him. That's wrong. This isn't supposed to be a common slave; the guy is friggen Spartacus, a legend.

Apart from that, he has a very nasal sounding quality to his voice. It's irritating. It's like his nose is constantly blocked. So the acting is "off", his fighting is pathetic and he looks like a wimp. Very disappointed right now.

They're over doing the the use of slow motion during the fights.

It does make it easier to fill out the hour's programming...

I agree that this season has been somewhat of a let down. I'll still watch to see Ashur get his due, hopefully from Oenomaus. And, some how I hope they come up with a believable way to show whose baby Ilithyia is carrying unless the truth about her other deed comes out first. The production seems somewhat "cheaper" this season also.

larry

Doctore O gets whipped for 12 hours and has no scars the next day. Eagle Scout Spartacus has no plan. Battle action features the traditional stab through the back of the neck or through the mouth numerous times. Romans are simpering, sniveling characteratures. Who knew mines were mud baths? This season is becoming a snorefest.

the real life death of Andy coupled with the fall of Batiatus may equal the end of Spartacus the series

The new Sparty just doesn't cut it for me

Color me bored so far. I'm having a hard time even paying attention during the episodes.

Yeah I feel at times like I am watching a soap opera especially when the new Spartacus is on screen. I am more interested in what will happen with the other characters. Too bad Spartacus has to be the lead character.
Would be more interesting following Crixus, Oenomeus and Gannicus whenever they finally decide to bring him into this series. Should be soon I guess since the affair secret is out.

I am a huge fan! I am enjoying Vengeance immensely, but I agree it's not as good as the two seasons prior.

The casting changes have not benefited the show. The new spartacus is competent, but lacks the gravitas, the soul, of the original gladiator. Spartacus' newfound youth is quite jarring as well.

The original Naevia was stunningly hot. The new girl, not so much.

Crixus was always a beast in heat in the former seasons. Now, he looks old, tired, and depressed. Freedom has not been kind to him, lol.

The biggest disappointment so far has been the glaber character. In prior seasons, he always had a gleam in his eye after doing over spartacus, in a relatively small role. He smirked, and then he left.

Now, he's essentially the co-lead, and he just seems wooden, inexpressive and just plain dull. The political maneuvering within the senate angle just seems like so many trivial details. Craig Parker just cannot seem to emote. He almost looks like a robot.

John Hannah and Lucy Law were and remain so, sheer perfection. If I were to pick the best actors in all of tv, those two would be at the top of my list.

It was easier to sympathize with Quintus when he stood in the shadow and was under the thumb of the elder Batiatus. Once that check was lost, his ego and ambitions grew to frightening proportions, aided and abetted of course by his equally power hungry and even more underhanded wife.

It's actually his willingness to overlook her infidelity which allows the audience even the slightest opportunity to sympathize with a character growing ever more diabolical at every turn.

Who knows what infidelity meant in the context of that era, or in the moral universe of the show, though. Quintus himself regularly had sex with slave girls right in front of Lucretia. I suppose it was Lucretia's unwillingness to divulge her sexual relationship and her growing emotional attachment to Crixus which made it "wrong."

Ouch at the comments in here... Trying to stay positive. Liking the show still even though there are a lot of things that seem really fake. Ashur cutting his arm...


Her looks kills me...

I mentioned earlier in the thread I though the production would suffer as they no longer had basically 5 sets to deal with anymore. There was the training yard, indoors in the house of Batiatus, the basement of the house where the gladiators were kept, an occasional street shot, and the arena.

Not as much to deal with in comparison to free slaves running from town/house to town/house and other places.

I'm enjoying the season, but the new Sparticus is lacking and the Batiatus is sorely missed. Ashur's return is welcome.

It's not that he can't fight, he looks like he can,t fight. Is he younger then the Andy? I keep thinking he's baby faced last night.
Maybe he needs more movie fight experience and will have it soon.

This.

I agree that this season feels lacking...in fact, the whole tone of the show is just radically different. I chalk most of that up to the fact that it is no longer a "gladiator" show, which was kept in very small, intimate confines. We now have a show which is supposed to be building up to an epic, army vs. army throwdown. It's a completely different animal altogether and there is no way they could have kept the same dynamic.

Also...the new guy. Yeah, he looks too young, doesn't really offer a commanding presence like his predecessor. Andy always looked half-feral and dangerous even in his more thoughtful moments.

As I posted a while back, John Hannah / Batiatus was the soul of the show and IMO no one has replaced that role .. and for me anyway, that has made it hard to become as invested in this new season ..

I think / hope Spartacus will evolve .. however, the Director has a lot to do with what an actor does on screen /

You know he is still alive, right?

As far as the new Spartacus being a wimp. That has as much to do with the writing/directing, as it does with the acting. I do agree that Andy had far more presense in the role.

I think it may take awhile to get used to the new major players. I'm enjoying it for what it is at the moment.

Art

Liam just turned 30 last week. Andy was 37-38 when he did season 1.

I thought he died when I saw it but from I've read history tells another story.

I agree with that. Looked like Ashur clubbed him into unconsciousness at the end. Probably so he can torture him like he did Oenomaus. Bad move; that never works out well. Or, he could bring him back as a trophy, to show he's getting closer to Spartacus.

Still, that means they can have another objective - that of freeing Crixus. It's important to set clear and achievable goals in life.

I just couldn't believe Spartacus with Crixus and others with them couldn't fend off all those romans.. they did grab several swords they could easy taken them down, now they lost Crixus, and I bet Spartacus will try to rescue him..

It just wasn't in the script as they say.

Vengeance is still terrific, even if it's a half notch below s. 1 and the prequel.

By way of comparison, I'm making an effort to watch hbo's rome. I'm introducing myself in the same way I encountered Spartacus: in the middle of a season, watching an episode at random.

Rome is not holding up well at all.

1. The quality of the sets look very cheap, almost plasticky.

2. Spartacus is serious eye candy galore. Rome's actors are nowhere near as attractive. Most are downright homely.

3. the actors of Spartacus carry a burning fire in their souls, evident in their eyes, always; sometimes lurking and hidden, but always ready to snap and recoil in an instant, oftentimes unexpectedly. No such animalistic fire and intensity with Rome's cast.

4. the storyline of Rome seems tedious, moving slowly, deliberately, and meandering without end, direction or purpose. Every single moment of Spartacus is tense and meaningful.

Spartacus has surely overdone the CGI blood and gore by now, but the amateur-ish acting so far in rome makes this point nit picking and moot by comparison.

Rome is horribly over-rated. Enjoy 300, Gladiator and now, Spartacuuuuuus!

Rome put me to sleep literally... That's how bad it was. You can't even compare it to any other period show or movie because it's an insult.