Are we entertained? Blood-soaked drama captures gore of Ancient Rome
Those About to Die ★★★
Amazon Prime, Friday
Ancient Rome is the emergency alarm the entertainment industry pushes when revenues are down. There’s nothing like gory combat in the Colosseum, intrigue on the Senate floor, and decadent parties between masters and slaves to excite jaded genre audiences. Last week we had the grandiloquent trailer for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, and this week there’s this blood-soaked international co-production, with Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012) as the lead director. Are we not entertained?
The year is 79 AD and Rome is under the rule of the ageing Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins). The city is heaving, food riots are common, crime is rife, and everyone loves the gladiator fights and chariot racing that serve as communal distraction. Working from the pulp history of Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 book of the same name, Those About to Die creator Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) sees Rome as the metropolis that did it first and did it best: corruption, inequality, and spectacle.
The characters aren’t always archetypes, but their paths are awfully familiar. Vespasian has two rival sons, the military commander Titus (Tom Hughes) and the politician Domitian (Jojo Macari), competing to inherit his throne. The wily plebeian turned slumlord and ambitious bookmaker Tenax (Iwan Rheon) is the antihero figure, quick with the odds and his blade, but never completely amoral. Three Spanish brothers arrive with horses to sell, sibling slaves from North Africa struggle to stay alive. Everyone’s got a plan, and a back-up plan.
Dimitri Leonidas as Scorpus, Eneko Sagardoy as Andria in Those About to Die.Credit: Reiner Bajo/Peacock
There is piquant historical detail and some contemporary allusions, but this 10-episode season is also happy to reference its predecessors, whether it’s Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 feature Spartacus or the 2010 historical drama Spartacus. The performances are sternly serious but predictable – the Spanish horse dealers think Rome is a lark, until their beloved animals are threatened. There’s even the gambit of having a British actor, in this instance Macari, delivering a wildly ripe turn. Somewhere Sir Laurence Olivier is nodding appreciatively.
The interwoven plotting is brisk and confident as factions rise and fall. But there are obvious limitations. The show was shot at Rome’s famed Cinecitta studio, but the scenes are divided between interior sets and green screen-lined exteriors, backed by workmanlike digital vistas; the storytelling hungers for natural light and a real horizon. The chariot races, with their Formula One-like teams, are plentiful, but they are mostly practical and digital effects that lack for grit and excitement. It’s not a crippling issue because the show never takes a backwards step. If nothing else, Those About to Die has Rome’s self-belief.
Simone Biles: RisingCredit:
Simone Biles: Rising ★★★
Netflix
Netflix has several Olympics-related documentaries releasing before the opening ceremony in Paris, and the best – that is, the one that tests the parameters of officially sanctioned sporting narratives – is this intimate look at the return of gymnast Simone Biles. Acclaimed as the sport’s most decorated competitor, the American star crashed out at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, departing mid-tournament and seemingly ending her illustrious career.
There’s an obvious resurrection arc here, as Biles returns to the spotlight and prepares for Paris, but what’s notable is the openness with which she discusses her setbacks and the path to recovery. “It felt silent,” Biles says of a body that for years had been capable of extraordinary feats of movement and control. It’s fascinating to watch one of the greatest athletes of this century admit to losing – and trying to regain – what made them special.
Whether sprawled on a couch being interviewed or discovering life outside the gym with her new husband, American NFL player Jonathan Owens, Biles is an engaging, genuine subject. “I’m just begging to be human,” she says, having spent years embodying perfection. The second episode carefully references what it’s like to be a Black champion in a historically white sport, with the story set up for the third and fourth episodes. They’re scheduled for release after the cameras have followed Biles in Paris.
Tracker
Disney+
The breakthrough network hit of the year to date on American television, this case-of-the-week action-drama stars Justin Hartley (This Is Us) as Colter Shaw, a survivalist and detective who specialises in finding missing people in exchange for a reward. One thing he can’t find is a shirt that stays buttoned up – this show is quite serious in tone but enjoyably silly, with big hunk vibes and a succession of nefarious plots that Colter invariably untangles before growing moody as hints of his own traumatic past surface.
Exploding Kittens: Sacrilegious chaos and eccentric family dynamics.Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Exploding Kittens
Netflix
I’m not sure how the card game this animated adult comedy was very loosely adapted from works, but the TV series from the game’s creator, cartoonist Matthew Inman, and writer Shane Kosakowski (You’re the Worst) profits from sacrilegious chaos and eccentric family dynamics. Having let down the board of Heaven, an irresponsible God (Tom Ellis) is exiled to Earth, as a fixer in feline form, to sort out a family that’s falling to bits, which inspires the Devil (Sasheer Zamata) to move in next door. Imagine Bob’s Burger with a streak of Monty Python.
Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal (1973).Credit:
The Day of the Jackal
Binge
They are, of course, once again remaking this 1973 manhunt thriller – Eddie Redmayne will play the meticulous assassin pursued by a dogged police detective in a contemporary telling. But it will be hard to top Fred Zinnemann’s original, which was adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s novel with Edward Fox as the clockwork killer targeting France’s President Charles De Gaulle and the great Michel Lonsdale as his pursuer. It remains a meticulous procedural, rife with illuminating detail on both a practical and psychological level, and highly influential. David Fincher’s The Killer doesn’t exist without it.
Otmara Marrero, Edi Gathegi, Ron Perlman, Adam Brody and Martin Freeman in StartupCredit:
StartUp (seasons 1-3)
Stan
Debuting in 2016, this Miami-set crime drama about a cross-section of those on either side of the law trying to control a fledgling cryptocurrency intermittently appears on different streaming services. It’s a familiar if florid ensemble series – a mix of The Shield and Billions, if the latter had consequences – but it’s notable for a particularly pungent performance from Martin Freeman as a corrupt FBI agent, Phil Rask. The Sherlock star is not just venal and duplicitous, he reveals the fractured psyche that’s taken his character to the edge. It’s exemplary work.
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