Those About to Die

As the man behind high-octane blockbusters Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, Roland Emmerich lends his grandiose cinematic touch to the small screen via Those About To Die. Prime Video’s swords-and-sandals epic boasts an impressive cast, including multi-Academy Award-winner Anthony Hopkins as imposing emperor Vespasian and Game of Thrones alumnus Iwan Rheon as the scheming Tenax.

An ancient allegory for the exploitative nature of the modern-day gambling industry, the series chronicles the erection of the Colosseum as a site of public spectacle and games of bloodlust. And bloodlust there is. The series revels in graphic displays of violence and bloodletting, but it all feels a bit too familiar. Flitting from one scene to another, it’s breakneck in its execution, which borders on the incoherent. The writers shoehorn a surplus of characters into the limited run time, and any development that happens is swift and superficial. Likewise, the heavy-handed exposition is too theatrical and used in place of any organic attempts at genuine storytelling. While there is grandness in its scope, with floating cinematic shots above the cityscapes, the obvious use of CGI is more than a tad distracting.

Unlike its forbearers, namely Ridley Scott’s Gladiator and the TV series Rome, Those About to Die does depict the monstrous brutality exacted against women of the era and the toxic masculinity that lies therein. But the series also revels in this toxicity; the gratuitous nudity and inexplicable sex scenes take the viewer back to the seedy sexploitation days of early Game of Thrones and The Tudors.

Hopkins is his usual magnetic self, with assured delivery and undeniable presence, and Rheon is suitably steely-eyed as a menacing gambling kingpin. Meanwhile, a host of talented co-stars, such as Thom Hughes and Gabriella Pession, try their best to ground the material. But a stellar cast can’t save this tired addition to the Roman epic. For a show about the spectacle of gladiatorial combat, the entertainment factor is decidedly lacking. 

Antonia Georgiou

Those About to Die is released on Prime Video on 19^th July 2024.

Watch the trailer for Those About to Die here: