Spartacus (TV Series) Sacramentum Gladiatorum (2010) User Reviews

Entertaining and intriguing story arcs, sandy fascinating ludus, economical elements, John Hannah and Peter Mensah's convincing performances, controversial relationships

[igoatabase · 8/10 · 3 February 2010]

This second episode confirmed the great impression the pilot left on me. First even if it was less bloody than The Red Serpent many scenes involved gladiators training in the sand under a heavy sun. One of them was obviously a reference to the film Conan the Barbarian. Their ludus, a Roman teaching school, is well designed and I specially liked that their playfield was separated from the master's area by a balcony. There's almost something Shakespearan about it because it sharpens the lines between the masters and their slaves. Lentulus Batiatus, played by John Hannah, is the ludus owner but his own life depends on them because if they lose in the arena, he can't pay his own bills. Their pool is dry and it reveals how much money matters to them. So Spartacus is not the only one who has issues.

His story developed further and Gaius Claudius Gaber, played by Craig Parker, even paid him a visit. Of course it was about Sura and his words were very harsh. However I wasn't convinced by Parker's performance but it's probably because Andy Whitfield is just perfect as Spartacus and Hannah brilliant as Batiatus. After his few scenes in the pilot I was expecting him and his wife Lucretia, played by Lucy Lawless, to act as fools but they're far too smart, manipulative and perverse. The charismatic speech he gave to a reluctant Spartacus even reminded me of Gladiator and allowed us to better understand his motives and background. As for Lawless her performance succeeded in making her character grow on me and the eyes she laid on one gladiator intrigued me. And what about the kiss Gaber's arrogant wife gave her ? Does it mean they own them or something ? In fact I was quite surprised by Batiatus and Lucretia's attitude towards them.

As for the other characters I found Peter Mensah's performance as Doctore just mind blowing. A black man whipping white gladiators ? It could be reminiscent of Starship Troopers ! He has so much charisma and it's logical considering he has been practicing martial arts since he was six years old. So he's the ideal teacher for these new comers and acts as a beacon for Batiatus. Even his men have their own story and of course some are friends and didn't welcome Spartacus as one of their own. All these controversial relationships enriched the show universe.

Even if the editing wasn't as astonishing as in the pilot some scenes were still surprising. From the hallucination to the ludus digital flyby there was plenty of elements to appeal the creative viewers. Some of them might disapprove the numerous slow motions but I think that visual effect is well used and allows to better follow the action when it gets intense. And I wouldn't mind some bullet time or split effects ! As for the disappointing sex scenes they got better and the first one was actually quite shocking but far too short. I really hope it will come back to haunt our tortured hero. But the most disturbing one involved Batiatus, Lucretia and their beautiful female slaves. It makes the story more realistic and respectful of the Ancient Rome era because we all know Romans were famous for their orgies. Last but not least the metal soundtrack reminded me of the video game Prince of Persia : Warrior Within. It's punchy but I wish it was a bit more classical and Roman.

Overall all these elements contributed to make this second installment a success. Spartacus first training felt like the calm before the storm. I can't wait to know what happened to Sura, probably through the eyes of Gaber and Batiatus. In fact all the arcs are interesting and their unavoidable collisions should spark in the dark like blades in the arena. There was also something fascinating about the meaning of the sand beneath their feet and the vital importance of water. Is it a metaphora for blood ? Are the ludus residents like thirsty vampires ? Is fighting and killing the only solution to make it rain and survive ? All these questions connect the show to masterpieces like Dune by Frank Herbert. Is the ludus an oasis or the desert itself ? Heaven or hell ?

Fail on the part of the writers

[wildandcrazygal · 5/10 · 27 July 2012]

For me personally I hate when writer's employ plot devices like this. In the first episode they prove to us repeatedly that Spartacus is a veteran warrior. Skilled with a myriad of weapons and shield and extremely proficient in one on one combat or fighting large groups where the odds are greatly against him yet always prevailing. He is masterfully skilled in all forms of combat and proves it not only on the battlefield, but also in a siege on his village where he rescues his wife and finally in the arena where equipped only with a sword against four opponents who are fully armed and armoured and he prevails every time. Suddenly in this episode we're expected to believe that this veteran warrior is suddenly unskilled because fighting in the arena requires specialized training. Now I could see this making sense if in the arena they used some specialized form of combat or weapon. They do not. In the arena they use all the tools that they spent all that time showing us in the first episode how proficient Spartacus is with them. Primarily a sword and shield. Weapons that Spartacus time and again showed his expertise with in the first episode. In this episode we're suddenly expected to believe that the man who prevailed against multiple opponents repeatedly in the first episode suddenly is defeated by everyone he battles including a much less skilled opponent. Even when they finally give him a victory it's one he barely achieves. All this seems to me to have been done to create dramatic effect and to break Spartacus' character down so he finally submits to Batiatus. They wasted an entire episode on this. For me I just couldn't suspend disbelief enough to believe that the man they went out of their way to show as an unparallelled warrior in the first episode was suddenly almost an unskilled buffoon on the battlefield on this episode. They already had all the motivation they needed for Spartacus to submit to becoming a gladiator all along and it's what they ultimately ended up using, his love for his wife and the promise of eventual freedom so he could rescue her. The fact that they used this motivation any way, just made the choice to make Spartacus such an inept warrior for most of the episode seem even more ludicrous to me. I often feel like writer's are insulting our intelligence when they go out of their way to make us believe one thing in one episode and then shortly thereafter in subsequent episodes want us to believe something completely contrary. I'm all for suspending disbelief in entertainment, but I'm also about logic and there's no logical reason for Spartacus' sudden ineptitude. It overshadowed everything else in the episode for me. I loved, loved, loved the first episode, but this follow up was a let down for me.