TV Series Review: Spartacus

Upon my brother's suggestion, I recently started watching the TV series Spartacus. He said it was kind of like a mix between Gladiator and 300, and I liked both of those movies so I figured I'd check it out. While there are some similarities between the three, Spartacus has enough original elements to make it its own. Rather than simply recycling material in the movies for an elongated show, modern day touches are added to keep the audience engrossed.

At first I thought the show was a little overdone with the amount of nudity, open sexuality, testosterone and pride-filled men and overwhelming praise of masculinity, but after watching a full episode I couldn't stop myself from becoming addicted. I enjoy the balance of fighting scenes entwined with love scenes and branches of personal story plots that allows the viewer to slowly become more familiar with each character while leading up to a great bloody fighting battle.

For more info you can visit the Spartacus website or simply tune in to Starz on January 21st at 10pm to check out the season 2 premiere (click to watch preview). I've been seeing billboards all over the city for Spartacus, so hopefully this next season will be just as good as the first, and with the help of all the advertising, maybe it'll get a boost in ratings. It doesn't seem that many people have watched the show, but after I had my roommates watch it they immediately liked it, so perhaps the show is a little under the radar simply because it's on Starz Network.

Spartacus is a fun form of entertainment with the right combination of bloody action scenes mixed with sexy promiscuity and touching hopes of freedom or success in the arena. It's not difficult to pick things up if you start in the middle of the season either. I definitely recommend it to someone looking for a new show to follow.