Spartacus: Vengeance (2012) Review

After the terrible passing of lead star Andy Whitfield, the future of Spartacus was in balance, that was until a recasting was decided on in order to continue the story in all of its glory. I have watched this season of the show Vengeance and here is my review. The premise of the season sees the former slaves led by Spartacus on the run from the forces of Rome, while they attempt to free other slaves to join them in there cause. 

Main Character

As mentioned above, we have a new actor playing the titular character and that is Liam McIntyre and he is great in the role. He doesn't try and just copy Whitfield but adds his own part to the role and really delivers. This is a character who is more of a leader and has to focus on more then the arena and winning and McIntyre takes over the role admirably and as good as anybody could. 

Supporting Characters

Manu Bennett is once again playing Crixus and it is nice to see him and Spartacus actually get along unlike the majority of the previous season. Manu is just a great actor and he really nails the mix of aggression and sadness in the character. 

A character who has been in all of the previous seasons but I haven't mentioned is Ashur played by Nick E. Tarabay and he is just delightful here. He is so evil and slimy that he totally revels in it as Ashur once again attempts to worm himself into a position of real worth. 

Dustin Clare is back as Gannicus, he was the lead character in Gods of the Arena but he plays a supporting role here and he is so much fun. It is great fun to see him interact with the characters in the current timeline and he is once again so cool and Whitty that makes him such a great addition. 

Craig Parker reprises his role as Glaber and this is the season that he is most frequent and he does a good job in taking over the main villain role with a wonderfully over the top evil performance and I did have fun watching him here. 

The rest of the cast are all great with Lucy Lawless and Peter Mensah once again giving great performances in there roles. 

Story

The story is very different to the previous seasons, it is away from the arena and the training of gladiators and basically sees two sides waging war. It is handled well and it shows real progression in the main heroes and how they have progressed throughout the show. However, because of this there is so much going on and I think there was quite a bit, especially in the first half of the season that I found a bit dull and questioning whether it was really needed. Though, I must say this is probably my favourite finale of the three seasons so far. 

Script

The script is good, it still has that dramatic dialogue that you would expect as the different personalities clash on both sides of the war. There was probably a little bit of more humour in this series and when it is sprinkled in, I think it works. 

Style

No surprises that the style of the show has a lot of violence, politics and sex and it delivers it in abundance which keeps it standing out from most shows as something that is really visceral to the eyes. However, the pacing isn't at its best here as I mentioned above that there is just so much going on that it doesn't always feel developed. Also, I feel like there was way more slow-mo used to possibly hide weaker choreography of the action. 

Overall 

Overall, Spartacus: Vengeance is another great season of this show and makes it incredibly consistent and enjoyable. If you weren't a fan before, this won't bring you in but if you have already started then this will see you well before future instalments. 

Rating - 8/10