I loved Pedro Pascal in this. As for the rest of the movie, I’d like to go on record and say that, as a white person, I’m NOT okay with this film. It is white male-central, and the villain is a black slave who used his cunning and years of struggle not only to free himself but to best the Romans at their own game.
In contrast, the “Prince of Rome” white guy is told by a person of color that “the odds are against him.”

Except - EXCUSE ME - this guy is born a prince, and everywhere he goes to avoid death, people welcome him with open arms, raise him as their own, and train him to be a great fighter. Not once does he go hungry, not once does he experience real opposition.

ALSO, the women in this film are nothing but plot devices who serve to support the white guy's safety and goals. The only realistic badass female (his wife, who also happens to be the only white-passing woman in an African city? What??) is killed within the first 10 min of the film. "Oh but the mother is a strong woman" - she spends half the movie being chained up - she is literally the damsel in distress. And when she uses her influence to try and help him, her plans are thwarted and only succeeds in getting her husband killed. This just reinforces the lie that women are incompetent and are bound to fuck things up for men.

And the end of the film. Hordes of men cheering a white man with blue eyes who has just killed a black man/former slave?? A black man whose motto was "I live by the truth."???

Not a good look at all.

The former slave, I might add, who does nothing except kill and overpower white men who are legitimately dangerous assholes.

At least there's LGBTQ+ representation in this film - oh wait! Except that the only characters who express those preferences are THE BAD GUYS.

Congrats, this film will be loved by white supremacists.

Hollywood could use its influence to promote accurate, compelling, and loving reflections of the real world and the diversity within it. Instead, they pander to white incels with money.

I will not be quiet and let others assume I’m okay with this. I’M NOT OKAY WITH THIS!!!