Those About to Die ★★★
Amazon Prime, Friday

Ancient Rome is the emergency alarm the entertainment industry pushes when revenues are down. There’s nothing like gory combat in the Colosseum, intrigue on the Senate floor, and decadent parties between masters and slaves to excite jaded genre audiences. Last week we had the grandiloquent trailer for Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, and this week there’s this blood-soaked international co-production, with Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012) as the lead director. Are we not entertained?

The year is 79 AD and Rome is under the rule of the ageing Emperor Vespasian (Anthony Hopkins). The city is heaving, food riots are common, crime is rife, and everyone loves the gladiator fights and chariot racing that serve as communal distraction. Working from the pulp history of Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 book of the same name, Those About to Die creator Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) sees Rome as the metropolis that did it first and did it best: corruption, inequality, and spectacle.

The characters aren’t always archetypes, but their paths are awfully familiar. Vespasian has two rival sons, the military commander Titus (Tom Hughes) and the politician Domitian (Jojo Macari), competing to inherit his throne. The wily plebeian turned slumlord and ambitious bookmaker Tenax (Iwan Rheon) is the antihero figure, quick with the odds and his blade, but never completely amoral. Three Spanish brothers arrive with horses to sell, sibling slaves from North Africa struggle to stay alive. Everyone’s got a plan, and a back-up plan.

There is piquant historical detail and some contemporary allusions, but this 10-episode season is also happy to reference its predecessors, whether it’s Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 feature Spartacus or the 2010 historical drama Spartacus. The performances are sternly serious but predictable – the Spanish horse dealers think Rome is a lark, until their beloved animals are threatened. There’s even the gambit of having a British actor, in this instance Macari, delivering a wildly ripe turn. Somewhere Sir Laurence Olivier is nodding appreciatively.

The interwoven plotting is brisk and confident as factions rise and fall. But there are obvious limitations. The show was shot at Rome’s famed Cinecitta studio, but the scenes are divided between interior sets and green screen-lined exteriors, backed by workmanlike digital vistas; the storytelling hungers for natural light and a real horizon. The chariot races, with their Formula One-like teams, are plentiful, but they are mostly practical and digital effects that lack for grit and excitement. It’s not a crippling issue because the show never takes a backwards step. If nothing else, Those About to Die has Rome’s self-belief.

Simone Biles: Rising ★★★
Netflix

Netflix has several Olympics-related documentaries releasing before the opening ceremony in Paris, and the best – that is, the one that tests the parameters of officially sanctioned sporting narratives – is this intimate look at the return of gymnast Simone Biles. Acclaimed as the sport’s most decorated competitor, the American star crashed out at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, departing mid-tournament and seemingly ending her illustrious career.