TV Review: SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND Starring Andy Whitfield

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As you know there really is not much on TV right now, of late I have been filling in my time with box sets such as Dexter seasons one and two as well as the same from Breaking Bad, on a weekly basis I’m watching only Falling Skies season 2 and have decided to keep two more seasons of Dexter and Breaking Bad until they have wrapped for their upcoming seventh and fifth seasons respectively. I got home from work late to yet again nothing on TV and decided to turn to a DVD box set which I’ve had sitting for quite some time now, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, earlier in the year I watched Spartacus: Vengeance which quickly became my favorite show on TV all be it a different actor playing Spartacus. After one episode of Blood and Sand I was hooked on what turned out to be an ultra violent show with blood and gore a plenty.
 
I think too many people took this show a little too seriously, it is what it is really. Fair enough it’s not exactly historically correct (or so I’ve been told) but I didn’t really care, there was enough in storyline, acting ability, sex, and of course out and out violence to more than keep my interest. This opening season sees the rise of Spartacus a Thracian persuaded to join the Roman auxiliary to fight the Gatae by Legatos Claudius Glaber, however Glaber goes back on his word and switches his interest to the Mithridates in order to gain higher standing with the Roman Senate, it’s a move which the Thracian’s don’t take kindly and a soldier with no name is condemned to death in a Gladiator ring whilst his wife Sura is sold into slavery. The soldier refuses to be defeated and kills the four Gladiators sent to execute him becoming a favorite of the Capua crowd, he is sold to Batiatus (John Hannah) and begins life as the most famous Gladiator of them all, Spartacus.
 

I didn’t really know anything about the actors involved in Spartacus before I started watching but they very quickly get your attention here, whether that’s because of all the naked scenes or just the brilliant blood thirsty violence that’s on display I’m not sure but Spartacus himself, the late Andy Whitfield did put in a brilliant performance as the Thracian warrior and added real believability to his character, Andy actually picked Liam McIntyre to be his replacement in the latest season of the show. Also putting in the other noteworthy performance was British actor John Hannah, who plays Batiatus, the dominoes of the house, dropping F-bombs as there often called on the Internet Hannah puts Batiatus across brilliantly as the power crazy Dominoes wanting to better himself in politics and become the Magistrate with one eye firmly on Rome, his ruthlessness is brutal for such a little guy it’s often hard to believe that the physically superior Gladiator’s didn’t jump him before Spartacus encouraged them too, the reason? Before Spartacus all Gladiators in the house were fighting to take the crown of champion of Capua, a most prestigious award and one that could elevate their status in the house of Batiatus and even win them their freedom.
 
Crixus (Manu Bennett) is the champion of Capua throughout most of this season, mostly due to the fact that it’s a title that does not interest Spartacus, his only concern is that of his wife Sura and her safe return. Once given the encouragement of course Spartacus takes the mantle defeating one of Capua’s most feared Gladiators and the man who even defeated Doctore (Peter Mensah), Spartacus takes the crown and so continues the bickering between he and Crixus. I don’t want to go into to much story, obviously that will give the game away if you haven’t seen the show but its also available in history (on Wikipedia) as the show does follow the journey of Spartacus, this is the beginning and the story behind why he lead such a massive and successful slave rebellion during a time when the Romans reigned supreme.
 

I often wonder when watching shows and movies like Spartacus, Gladiator, Rome and 300 if things really were that brutal back then, they certainly lived in a very harsh environment and I suppose the shows and movies are based on real life events so it must have been as bad if not worse for people in slavery, or those who lived free lives but did not have a high standing within the Roman government, it seems if you lived in Rome you were wealthy, if you were a Dominoes you had high standing, if you were a Magistrate same goes, these people were untouchable and free to do as they pleased regardless of repercussions on those of a lesser standing.
 
Spartacus: Blood and Sand may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I certainly enjoyed it as I did with Vengeance and God’s of the Arena. For me this is a show where you can simply sit back, relax and enjoy the excitement on the screen as the back stabbing on all levels builds to one brilliant finale where Spartacus does exactly as instructed by his wife, kills them all.

Movie Review: BLITZ (2011) Starring Jason Statham

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Blitz is a movie which I have known about for a good while now, and to be honest I’ve never really felt the urge to watch it, mainly because it’s a British movie and typically the sort of thing I don’t care for to much. However thanks to the folks down at Lovefilm HQ this ended up being my latest Blu-ray rental. I found myself with a couple of free hours (unusually) the other day and decided to take advantage giving Jason Statham’s latest (almost) kick ass action fest a run for its money.

Starring: Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen, Zawe Ashton, David Morrissey and Luke Evans

The Plot

Jason Statham plays Detective Sergeant Tom Brandt, a cop who has nothing in his life other than alcohol, currently suffering from what he describes as blackouts he is in therapy after catching three youths trying to break into his car, Brandt decides that to arrest them just isn’t enough and proceeds to beat the youths to within an inch of their life with a hockey stick. Then things get worse as there is a cop killer on the loose and he seems to be targeting the station where Brandt works, problem is they know who the perpetrator is, they just need to find the evidence to charge him.

The Verdict

If it’s realism that you are after, then in terms of violence and what London “really” looks like Blitz will serve you very well, it’s a gritty dark humoured police thriller with Jason Statham doing what he does best, putting on a gruff voice, drinking and kicking ass whilst hurling abuse at his superiors. However that’s where the realism in Blitz ends, don’t get me wrong it was a very enjoyable movie and coming from someone who doesn’t normally like British East End type flicks that’s saying something, but what Blitz didn’t get right was the scenes with the police.

Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones / The Wire) is brilliant as the psychotic villain, he comes across really well, but its just a shame that a little more of why he turned out wanting to kill cops wasn’t involved at the beginning, my guess would be that he is a no one, a loner who simply wanted to make a name for himself. Thing is Gillen is the Blitz, or at least that’s the nickname he affords himself and after he dispatches three cops he is arrested, now one killing was dead of night, no witnesses, the other through the day, loads of witness, both of those are shots to the head. His final one before arrest, bludgeoning the Chief Inspector with a hammer, he then proceeds to be sick all over him. Police complain when the Blitz is allowed to walk free, as they have no solid evidence.

Realism? I don’t think so, first off The Blitz is arrested for the murder of three cops, the clothing he is wearing would be seized from him before he is placed into a police cell, here he wears the same clothing all the way through with no hint they are going to seize it. Second, he has fifty grand cash on him, police know he does not work and therefore has no means to be carrying that sort of money, it would be seized from him under the proceeds of crime act and weather charged or not he wouldn’t be given it back. Third, the biggest mistake of all, the one which would have put him in prison, DNA, yes, the police claimed to have none, hold on, after killing the chief he was sick on him, isn’t that DNA? Crime solved.

Don’t let any of that put you off, I suppose you could say I spoke to someone in the know, or maybe not. Blitz is actually a really good cop thriller, especially for a British movie, unlike Hollywood there are no brash over the top action sequences or explosions just good old hard as nails kick arse, but even Statham shows that his acting abilities extend beyond that of a martial arts expert as his dialogue in this movie is actually pretty good, especially with his superior Detective Sergeant Porter Nash (Paddy Considine, The Bourne Ultimatum).

To cap it off if its A-List Hollywood kick ass you are after then Blitz probably won’t cut it, you’d be far better off watching Statham in The Mechanic or The Transporter, but if you care for gritty darkly humours drama thrillers then Blitz will be right up your street.

The Music

Brilliant actually, really raw and grimy garage mixed with some techno, primarily used during the chase scenes, the opening title music is particularly gripping, and sets you up well for 1 hour and 30 minutes of good old fun.

Would I watch it again?

You know what? I think I would, Blitz is something you can stick on and not have to think to vigorously about, and I enjoyed it.

Movie Review: DIE HARD 4.0 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD Starring Bruce Willis

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Yeah, sorry I haven’t been around for the last couple of days, but hey, I do have other stuff to do in the “real world” away from this blogging lark. Never mind normality of posting should restore soon (next week) as all the good TV is about to start. Come here often? Then you know that I have not been watching much TV lately, still though I have had plenty of movies to get through including this surprise addition to the Die Hard franchise which I originally saw a few years ago, this time around I caught it on TV and have to say I enjoyed it every bit as much as I did the first time round.
 
Starring: Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Timothy Olyphant and Maggie Q
 
The Plot
 
It’s yet another boring day at the office for New York veteran detective John McClane, that is until the FBI don’t have anyone around in their local field office to go pick up a computer hacker who may be responsible for hacking their Cyber Crime Division. Who gets the job? You guessed it, John McClane, however law enforcement are not the only people after young computer Hacker Farrell (Justin Long) who helped a psycho cyber terrorist out with some computer code which would help him pretty much shut down the US. Arriving at the scene to pick up Farrell shots begin to get fired, McClane gets the kid out but is the new technology involved all a little to much for him?
 
The Verdict
 
First off, is it just me or does Bruce Willis keep getting cooler the older he gets? A 50 something guy who still kicks serious ass and shouts Yippe Ki Yay Motherf***** like he is in his early 30’s. You gotta hand it to Bruce the guy can still kick it with the kids and teach them a thing or two about being cool while he’s at it.
 

As for Die Hard 4.0, or Live Free or Die Hard, depending on whether or not you watched the American release of the movie, you get pretty much what you would expect from a Die Hard movie, loads of action along with some witty one liners. Willis, as we know is good at the one line comedy act, add in funny man Justin Long then you have a pretty good winning formula, especially as Long shows here that he is no one trick pony, action, comedy, drama, he can handle them all and does a great job in this movie. It’s a proper action movie just like the original Die Hard franchise, only this time its been updated to give it that 21st century feel. It doesn’t take that feel over the top though, the CGI is handled well and most of the combat action is done hand to hand as it would have been in the originals with people doing real stunts, it certainly adds to the realism.
 
In an action movie you need a good bad guy, or girl of course and in Die Hard 4.0 we are provided with both. I’ll be honest I’m not the biggest Timothy Olyphant fan, here the guy does ok but he is more the stand and shout the order to his “runners” with guns type of guy. The real bad girl kick ass action comes of course from Maggie Q, she has done it plenty times before (see Nikita and Mission Impossible III) and certainly hands Mr Willis his ass on a plate in this movie. Maggie is the real villain here for me, Mr Olyphant is way to posh to pull this kind of stuff off, although he is very good a staring intensely at things or people.
 
I say this all the time when doing movie reviews but here it is again, if its a popcorn Saturday night on the sofa you want and you can’t be bothered to use your brain to much then Die Hard 4.0 will be right up your street.
 
Would I watch it again?
 
Oh yes, you can be sure of that.

More evidence that Bruce Willis is a funny guy.

Sorry about the quality;

TV Review: VEGAS - Episode 1.1 on CBS Starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis

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I have to say that out of all the new “Pilot” TV shows coming out of America this Fall, Vegas starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis is probably the one which I was least looking forward too, don’t ask me why, I don’t really know. Guess I just thought it was going to be some sort of old town “western” Nevada type thing. I stand here corrected now, as I couldn’t have been more wrong, I was toying with they idea of leaving on Person of Interest (a repeat) but found the effort to reach for my Blu-ray player to check this out and I’m pleased I did because this is actually one of the better Pilots I have seen in a while and it really set Vegas up to look as if it’s going to be a really good show.

Vegas is set back in the 1960’s way before Las Vegas was set up as it is now, it was a simpler time when there were a few casino’s in the area, and most of the land was taken up by ranchers. However, the 60’s was also the time when everyone including the police and town governors were on the take, with the Mob moving in on Vegas to take advantage of the various gambling laws officials decided to look the other way with even the local Sheriff being corrupt. Things quickly go wrong for the small town during this Pilot though and the governors daughter turns up dead and the Sheriff is missing in action, step in Ralph Lamb (Dennis Quaid) a local ranch owner and former military cop who is hard as nails, Lamb really does not care to much for the new Vegas residents and within the first five minutes of the Pilot he is already beating several air traffic controllers to a pulp for letting planes give fright to his heard. With the Sheriff MIA Lamb is asked to take lead on the investigation by the mayor who for his own gains needs the crime solved.

We are introduced now to plenty of characters, joining Lamb on the hunt for the murderer is his brother Jack (Terra Nova’s Jason O’Mara) and son Cale (Billy Lush), their investigation is backed of course by the mayor Anthony “Red” Carvelli (James Russo) and Vegas’ Assistant District Attorney Katherine O’Connell (Carrie-Ann Moss). Their investigation of course does not go without its snags as new Mob boss Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis) has recently rolled into town, the pair meet on mutual grounds to start with, but it quickly becomes apparent that Savino is not in favour of the local Sheriff snooping around unescorted in his plush Savoy Casino.

It's quite amusing that Ralph Lamb who is made Sheriff by the end of this Pilot has been brought on board to help run a more strict law enforcement operation, whilst at the same time Mob boss Savino has been sent to Vegas to straighten out and “clean up” a few unorthodox mob activities, it would seem that Savino to this point will never be directly involved in anything, and on the face of it although Lamb will and does know Savino is corrupt he will have nothing to go on, think Robert De Niro Goodfellas.

I was worried about my enjoyment of the show like I mentioned above, mainly because of the 60’s setting, I have to say that I thought Vegas actually felt at times very current, maybe even more so than Revolution does in it’s Pilot, there was nothing unbelievable about what was being portrayed, yes, a couple of the fight scenes had you laughing and came as a bit over the top, especially as Lamb chased a Hells Angel motorcycle club member on his horse only to catch him and close line him off the bike, funny, and adds to the enjoyment, kind of reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies “Hurry up, my horse is getting tired”. The added thump of those punches also adds to the persona of Ralph Lamb being a hard ass.

The Pilot centred on the murder investigation, but succeeded in setting up what should be an interesting battle between Sheriff Lamb and Mob boss Vincent Savino, I would hope that each episode does not involve some sort of police procedural and they concentrate more on the battle between the police and the Mob. Following the Pilot Alcatraz’s Sarah Jones was added to the cast to play a mobsters daughter, so an interesting twist could come in there with Lamb’s free living son Cale and her. I really think Vegas looks ok, I’m wouldn’t say I’m totally sold but I enjoyed this Pilot and hopefully it will be built upon in the second episode “All That Glitters”. How about you? What did you think of Vegas? Your comments and discussion are welcome below as always.

Movie Review: MAD MAX 2 THE ROAD WARRIOR Starring Mel Gibson

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If you have been reading my scribbles for a while now then you’ll know that I used to spend quite a bit of my time on Hubpages, there I wrote a “Hub” on the Best 80’s action movies, following the hub I was asked a couple of questions as to why certain movies were no included at the time. One of those just happened to be The Road Warrior, which I thought I hadn’t heard of, turns out I had, only here in England it was named Mad Max 2. The reason it wasn’t mentioned there was the fact that I hadn’t seen the movie, now thanks to much push from regular reader and commenter Ruben I have finally got round to it and have the review here for you now.

Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Vernon Wells and Virginia Hey

The Plot

Former police officer Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is drifting his way across the rugged Australian landscape following a nuclear war, with nothing left to live for he finds himself on the hunt and in a daily battle for now priceless fuel which he faces off against other scavengers for. On his travels Max runs across a gang of outlaws one of whom he kills, they are laying siege to a local village which has a wealthy fuel reserve which they want control of. With no options left Max agrees to help the community and local feral kid escape the lawless gang of looters.

The Verdict

I think I’m maybe 30 years to late on this movie, as action movies go I think I have now seen many more which are far superior, don’t get me wrong for 1981 which is when this movie was released I can see why it has been given much acclaim over the years, but considering I was not even born in 1981 this is just a little before my time, I still enjoyed the movie but its one I’m pleased to have watched during the day as apposed to a Saturday night entertainment flick.

I read a few reviews of The Road Warrior after watching it and can agree with them, one mentions that it is very un-Hollywood, and yes it is, probably why it didn’t make the best of list which I mentioned above, there are no over the top action sequences, no over the top explosions everything is dealt with on a very basic level keeping special effects to a bear minimum, very easy to do I’d imagine when in the middle of the Australian outback, not many people would be able to hear what you are up to out there. They also mention that its one of the best movies to come out of Australia, since I know precious little about movies which come out of Australia I again agree.

I have actually struggled to find one person who says that they did not enjoy this movie, and that’s from people of all ages, like I said I enjoyed it and I have to agree with everyone else on the Internet about the final car chase (good to see nitrous oxide was invented before Vin Disel came along), it was epic and when that dude popped up from the front grill just as the feral kid went to get the bullets I certainly jumped a little. Mel Gibson is brilliant, I enjoyed this more than the last movie of Mel’s I watched but in terms of overall enjoyment for me the original Lethal Weapon and it's follow-up win the day.

The Road Warrior did make me chuckle a couple of times, The Gyro-Captain (Bruce Spence) is a pretty funny guy and when Max originally took him hostage I thought it was a pretty funny scene as the dog had a bone in his mouth which was attached to the trigger of the gun pointing at his head, however the Gyro-Captain was later to learn that the gun never had any bullets in it.

A quick glance at the top 5 I picked from the 80’s just in case you don’t want to follow the link above and read my reasoning in full, in no particular order;

Commando (1985)

Die Hard (1988)

Terminator (1984)

Lethal Weapon (1987)

First Blood (1982)

For me personally I don’t think Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior was as enjoyable as any of those movies, maybe if I had seen it back in the day, I don’t know.

Would I watch it again?

Even though some reviews I’ve read say it’s a movie which should be watched twice I don’t feel any particular need to go watch this over again.