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Spartacus: Gods of the Arena: reviews

It's gratuitous and there's no Andy Whitfield, but US reviewers give Dustin Clare the thumbs up.

Most US reviews like, make that ‘love’, what Dustin Clare is doing at Gannicus in the US prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

But they all agree it’s a gratuitous series and lament the absence of Andy Whitfield.

Nevertheless it premiered to almost 1.1 million viewers on Starz, marking a 66% jump from the debut for Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

The series will air in Australia on GO!

Dameon’s TV:
And Spartacus: Gods of the Arena gives us one swaggering rock-star of a gladiator—fabulous mullet included—named Gannicus, played by Aussie newcomer Dustin Clare. This dude is the WWE and the UFC all rolled into one badass motherfarmer. He eschews a shield to fight with two weapons, employs more barehanded techniques than Chuck Liddell, and wins his last fight of the day—blindfolded—by grabbing the head of his opponent and SAWING the dude’s NECK across the blade of a STUCK SWORD. Over and over and over again. I mentioned he’s blindfolded, right?

Examiner:
Along with the beloved (or sometimes despised) familiar faces, there are also some welcome new addtions. Australian actor Dustin Clare joins the ancient city of Capua as Gannicus, Batiatus’ newest house champion. Gannicus comes across as something of a rock star in that he lives to the fullest every moment he can, every way he can. Whether it is women, drink, or stunts while fighting, he seems to pull out all the stops.

Boston Herald:
Gannicus is a B.C. Bono, one who revels in the audience’s cheers. Women are so taken with him, they rip their gowns off in the stands. Clare suggests a young Fabio crossed with a “Baywatch” lifeguard. It’s never a good thing when he opens his mouth. Luckily, he doesn’t have many lines, and besides, everyone knows he’s just a place holder. Let the games begin.

Entertainment Weekly:
Whitfield is sorely missed, and without him at the center, I’m not sure this miniseries can ever really be more than a well-produced mess. But it’s a gorgeous mess. Without the gravitas of Spartacus’ slave-revolt storyline, the makers of Spartacus seem willing to indulge their basest B-movie instincts. So the first hour was wall-to-wall with cartoonishly over-the-top fight sequences, jauntily unrestrained nudity from both sexes, and enough comically elaborate swearing to fill a fifth-grade playground. The plot follows a much younger Batiatus (John Hannah) and Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) as they try to take their stable of gladiators into the highest ranks. The simultaneous focus on the gladiators’ physical exertions and Batiatus’ back-room dealmaking make Spartacus feel more than ever like the bloodiest sports TV show ever. (It’s basically Any Given Sunday, except more realistic.)

Hollywood Chicago:
The problem with “Gods of the Arena” is where you might expect it to be — the absence of Andy Whitfield. After watching only one episode, it’s hard to tell if the blame should lie at the feet of Mr. Clare or at the writers who have given him little to work with but Gannicus is simply not an interesting character. Hannah, Lawless, Murray, and Mensah all deliver the goods but the show falls flat in its center. After one episode — and the mini-series is only six long — I just didn’t care about Gannicus. It seems that Clare doesn’t have the natural charisma of Whitfield. For the most part, it won’t matter. This is just a sampler season to tide viewers over until next year when “Blood and Sand” returns with a new actor playing Spartacus (Liam McIntyre of “The Pacific”) and a full slate of episodes. “Gods of the Arena” doesn’t quite live up to “Blood and Sand” (and it’s hard to say if the new lead actor will next season either) but it’s still better than most of the junk on this lackluster mid-season. It’s nice to have this guilty pleasure back.

6 Responses

  1. “Guilty pleasure” about sums it up. Everyone’s allowed to watch one of those a week. This will be mine. I just hope we don’t get the censored version again.

  2. The first episode was much much better than the first episode of Blood and Sand.

    Good to have it back, it’s obvious that it’s just getting things in place to move the seasons story. So any complaints seem pointless at this stage. Lets see what they do over the next few eps to see if they have any merit.

    I am Glad to have the show back!.

    Get well soon Andy!

  3. The first episode of the prequel was excellent. The returning cast members have made a real effort to distinguish their characters from the personalities they exhibited in the first season and the new cast members are a welcome addition.

    I thought Gannicus was a fine substitute for Spartacus and clearly distinguishes himself as a separate character to Spartacus. I can’t wait to see more of Batiatus and Lucretia’s prequel adventures.

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