‘Those About To Die’ Reviews: Series “absolutely must be watched on as large a screen as possible”

                                                         Photo by Georgia Vagim on Unsplash

On July 18, 2024, Peacock released ‘Those About to Die’, which has earned predominantly positive reviews, currently holding at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the series, gladiatorial combat is examined and viewers are introduced to the entertainment aspect of the world famous proceedings. The ensemble cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Dimitri Leonidas, Jojo Macari, Gabriella Pession, Tom Hughes, Iwan Rheon, and Rupert Penry-Jones. But what did the critics say?

Harriet Addison of London Evening Standard praises the series, stating, “The script is sometimes clunky, and the drama a bit over-egged, but it’s also cinematic and powerful and exciting. It absolutely must be watched on as large a screen as possible.”

Nick Schager of The Daily Beast notes, “A swords-and-sandals epic that’s cast in a Game of Thrones mold—and strives to whet audiences’ appetites for Ridley Scott’s upcoming Gladiator II—Those About to Die delivers intrigue, deception, and coliseum carnage with an enthusiasm that’s offset by its derivativeness.” Concluding, “Most of its drama plays out in a manner that will be highly familiar to those who’ve spent time in Westeros and King’s Landing (or watched HBO’s short-lived Rome), albeit with an intermittent stolidness and unoriginality that cuts its suspense off at the knees. As for its action, directors Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner provide regular, vicious clashes in Circus Maximus, with chariots crashing, burning, and mangling their human riders, and gladiators doing all they can to stay alive in fights to the death against the unkillable (and The Mountain-esque) goliath Flamma (Martyn Ford).”

Sam Barsanti of IGN Movies says, “Those About To Die has all the nudity, violence, and political intrigue you’d want from a post-Game of Thrones drama. But it’s all been done better elsewhere -- and with better use of Anthony Hopkins, to boot.” Adding, “The real star of Those About to Die is also a reminder of televised George R.R. Martin adaptations – because it’s Game of Thrones’ Iwan Rheon, a.k.a. the vile and villainous Ramsay Bolton. A lucky, late addition to the cast, Rheon plays a big-scheming social-climber named Tenax. He runs the gambling at Circus Maximus, Rome’s venue for chariot racing and effectively its main economic draw… for now. Major competition is on its way in the form of Emperor Vespasian’s Flavian Amphitheater, the arena for gladiatorial combat better known these days as The Colosseum. The Colosseum’s construction is a frequent topic in these episodes, and, to varying extents, it drives the plot for the various interconnected storylines that make up Those About to Die. The Emperor, along with his sons (one a scheming politician, the other an accomplished soldier with a short fuse), is building it to distract the unruly citizens of Rome and to leech some power and influence away from the four color-coded teams – Red, Blue, Green, and White – who race at Circus Maximus and have ties to the city’s cultural, political, and religious elites.”

Dave Nemetz of TV Line was less impressed, stating, “It seems to have learned all the wrong lessons from Thrones, though, leaning heavily on violence and nudity and delivering empty spectacle in the place of real human emotion. It’s a dispiritingly cynical piece of work: somehow both overstuffed and underbaked, simultaneously schlocky and dull.” Continuing, “You’d think that the Roman setting would offer plenty of chances for classically trained actors to flex their muscles, but the lifeless scripts don’t give them much to work with. Characters launch into long monologues about the state of Rome… and we lose interest midway through. Hopkins’ presence does lend the series a sheen of prestige, but he only shows up for a scant scene or two in each episode to grumble out a few lines and then disappears again, so don’t tune in expecting to see his next great performance. That leaves us with an ensemble of blandly interchangeable actors getting wrapped up in mysteries and conspiracies that we don’t care much about in between fights and races.”