Overkill

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2003)

"Spartacus" is an overrated spectacle whose parts (and there are many good ones) are better than its whole.
It starts out well with Douglas becoming a gladiator and learning the ins and outs of the business. But after the revolt, all the slave scenes become unbearably tedious.
The Romans steal the movie. The politics, the backstabbing, the jockeying. The Romans also are better actors, and their scenes are done with a wry humor. In one scene with Peter Ustinov's and Charles Laughton's characters are sharing a meal, and each of the actors desperately trying to outact each other -- and better acting you're rarely likely to see as the old ham and the up and coming ham both try to steal the scene.
Olivier's Crassus is also notable. In fact, some of the slave scenes are so cloying and tiresome one winds up rooting for the Romans. The slaves scenes are enlivened occasionally by the arrival of Herbert Lom (Inspector Dreyfus). So, many good scenes (especially the climactic battle), many good performances, some fine writing here and there, but ultimately boring with the people who should be most interesting and sympathetic, the revolting slaves who are willing to die for the cause of freedom.