Steven
Spielberg got his start in TV with "Duel", and he is arguably the
greatest director of his generation. Unlike the contenders for that
title, he is concerned in releasing blockbusters more often than not.
This
generation's (Those who came up during the resurgence of indie cinema.)
blockbuster directors have a similar pedigree where they honed their
skills, but with less prestige. Heroes of today cinema like James
Cameron, Ron Howard, and Joe Dante came out of Roger Corman's "indie"
cinema. Corman's latest protégé of note is Timur Bekmanbetov ("Night Watch", "Day Watch", "Wanted").
His B-movie was "The Arena". It is a film that shows glimpses of the
director's talent, but those maybe blurred for late night cable due to
all the excessive Roman decadence.
Timarchus
(Viktor Verzhbitskiy from the "Watch" series) has been left to mind a
Roman outpost in Western Europe's wasteland. Desperate to make this land
his own little Rome, he has had a wooden coliseum built to host his
bloodlust. When the locals prove to be wretched warriors and the
gladiators who he brings in are subpar, he must come up with a new means
to have the peasants love Roman culture. He decides to try and capture
the intensity of the rebellious slave women by making gladiators out of
them.
Can
he make warriors of those he constantly victimized? Is it wise to do
so? Can an empire fall by the hands of the women it scorned?
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"The
Arena" can only be suggested if you are looking to rot your brain on a
lame weekend. We have all been there, so if you take the film as that,
it is worth a few inebriated minutes.
The
script is pretty lame along with the fight scenes, but there is enough
female nudity to amuse the male audience through to the second act. From
there, it is just laughable, but there are some moments where you see
the director's talent that has placed in high regards by the likes of
Tim Burton.
The
director has vision, and for that to work, he needs a lot of space to
work in. This film is squeezed into sets that are far too small for the
extras to be involved. If his characters (all of them) do to get an open
world to play in, then the feature could have been saved by his
skillset.
"The
Arena" is junk food, better yet, the bottom of the chip bag. For
whatever reason, it is worthwhile until you realize what you are
watching. This is a flick you can only come across by accident even if
you want to be a Bekmanbetov completist.
If you like "1941", you may like "The Arena."
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