Spartacus: House of Ashur (2025)
AVAILABLE ON MGM+
Rated 18
16 years on from the original series of Spartacus (2010), we were shocked to find this latest reboot.
Spartacus but in the day was one of my favourite shows - the acting wasn’t always the best but it was easy to immerse yourself in the show with very little effort. Despite the passing of 16 years - 10 minutes of watching House of Ashur and it feels like only yesterday.
Ashur was the deceitful rat that we all loved to hate in the original series and it’s a somewhat unapologetically funny start intro to the show. Ashur, in the underworld is offered the chance to go back to the world of the living and continue his story as an alternative to an existence if the afterlife..
He chooses to go back in a different storyline that see’s him the ‘hero’ that stops Spartacus and he wakes up as the the owner of the same Ludus that once held him captive. He’s still a wily fox, only out for his own gain but you learn to like him and it’s mad to think how little he has changed in over a decade.
It’s the same gore, nudity, sex and fighting storylines that we came to love in the first one but if I had to complain at all or be somewhat critical - the fight scenes are a little ‘stiff’ (no adult theme pun intended). Some of the characters don’t have the most believable or commanding presence about them and Achillia just doesn’t seem strong enough or athletic enough to convince that she is as good as she is meant to be.
Maybe its the build, persona or maybe it’s just not the best choreography or execution of the choreography. One thing that I also find hard to avoid criticising and it’s a personal thing for me but when characters are pumped full of cosmetic procedures - it’s hard to see them as authentic characters of the day/time they are portraying.
Graham McTavish is a great addition to the cast - you might know him best from his part as Dougal MacKenzie in Outlander. He and his acting have a presence and it helps mask some of the flaws with others.
Fun, sexy, entertaining and enjoyable. Relatively quick episodes, binge-able and easy to follow along, even if you’re on your phone in the background. Not as good as the original series for the points noted above. 6.1/10 for me but I’m loyal - so I’m here for it regardless.
