Recap: Spartacus Vengeance: “Fugitivus”, Season 2 Episode 1

Note: This recap contains spoilers. If you haven’t watched this episode yet, you can stream it at Starz.com.

“We need a leader, not some angry boy who can barely piss without splashing everyone about him” is one of many memorable lines from the long awaited season premiere of Spartacus Vengeance. This episode picks up a few weeks after the first season finale, aptly titled “Kill Them All’, which ended with the massacre in the House of Batiatus and Spartacus vowing to make “Rome tremble” as he and his fellow gladiators escaped the ludus.

All the hallmarks of a Spartacus episode are taken to the extreme this week as we witness a bone snapping out of an arm, a dagger thrust into a man’s eye, bloodbath at a whorehouse, and a gigantic strap-on dildo. The gruesome deaths, stylized slow motion sword fighting and no holds bar nudity would seem empty, maybe even comical, if it weren’t because we are emotionally invested in the plights of these characters and the complexity of the larger themes being explored. Characters we have come to care about are refamilarized in the premiere episode as well as some new characters introduced, nicely setting up what should be another stellar season.

My Top 5 Anticipated Movies of 2012

Here are the top 5 movies we’re looking forward to in 2012.

3. The Avengers

Release Date: May 4, 2012

Director: Joss Whedon

The Avengers is the ultimate superhero ensemble movie featuring Marvel’s Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Hulk and Iron Man. Despite all the star power and hollywood hype, undertaking such a movie could easily result in a mindless spectacle of special effects and ultra-tight costumes. When announced that Joss Whedon (TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly) was set to write the screenplay and direct The Avengers, it was met with both skepticism and joyful squeals. With only one feature film director’s credit in his resume at the time, it’s a surprising choice to have Whedon take on a movie that is rumored to have one of the biggest budgets in motion picture history. However, Whedon has a track record of crafting stories with meaningful character development in his TV series and has already developed a solid working relationship with Marvel as writer of the critically acclaimed Astonishing X-Men comics.

One of the biggest challenges of The Avengers is to give each character a real purpose in being a part of the story and to find a villain that could credibly threaten the superheroes. In a recent interview, director Joss Whedon discussed that the story will be told mainly from the viewpoint of Captain America, the first avenger, “since he’s the guy that just woke up and sees this weird-ass world” rather than trying to dilute multiple perspectives into one movie.  New to Marvel’s franchise, is actor Mark Ruffalo who is taking on the role of the “you won’t like me when I’m angry” Hulk. Ruffalo’s characterisation will reportedly follow the TV show’s version of helping people in need rather than the other two feature film versions that had Bruce Banner obsessed with finding a cure for himself. Reprising his role as Iron Man/Tony Stark is Robert Downey Jr. and judging by the trailers it will be a lot of fun seeing him deliver Whedon’s classic one-liners and snarky witticisms. Early reports had Loki, Thor’s brother, as the “big bad” however there will be a secondary villain not yet featured in the trailers.

My Top 5 Anticipated Movies of 2012

Here are the top 5 movies we’re looking forward to in 2012.

2. The Dark Knight Rises

Release Date: July 20, 2012

Director: Christopher Nolan

There has been some controversy over the muffled voice of the villainous Bane in the Dark Knight Rises prologue clip and the casting of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman/Selina Kyle, however director Christopher Nolan has earned the benefit of any doubts. 2008’s Dark Knight is one of the top grossing movies of all time and set the bar for comic book heroes on the silver screen. It’s also easy to forget that there were a lot of complaints when Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain, A Knight’s Tale) was originally announced he was taking on the role of the Joker. With all due respect to Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger IS the Joker. Nolan’s last movie, sci-fi heist film Inception (2010), was a fascinating exploration of the unconscious mind and the power of illusion.  In fact, several actors from Inception (Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Cottilard) will star in Dark Knight Rises, the final movie in Nolan’s Batman Trilogy.

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My Top 5 Anticipated Movies of 2012

Here are the top 5 movies we’re looking forward to in 2012.

1. The Hobbit: An Expected Journey

Release Date: December 14, 2012

Director: Peter Jackson

After watching the Lord of the Rings Movie Trilogy, I read the novel, The Hobbit about the journey of Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf and thirteen dwarf companions to win the treasure guarded by the dragon, Smaug. While on this quest, Bilbo finds a mysterious ring and faces off against Gollum, a strange tormented creature with a fondess for riddles. When reading the book, I was surprised how I was able to quickly solve many of the riddles before Bilbo and realized I had actually read The Hobbit many years ago in elementary school. Although the events in The Hobbit, take place many years before LOTR, we can expect to see some cameos from fan favourite characters. This film, is part one, with the second movie The Hobbit: There and Back Again to be released in 2013.