Set in 79 A.D. POMPEII tells the epic story of Milo (Kit Harington) a slave turned invincible gladiator who finds himself in a race against time to save his true love Cassia (Emily Browning) the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts in a torrent of blazing lava Milo must fight his way out of the arena in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him.
Review
It's pretty much impossible to say that "Pompeii" is a flawless film. It's love story is clichຝ and and its lighting at times leaves much to be desired. On the other hand I believe the term "guilty pleasure" fits perfectly here as I certainly enjoyed this movie enough to recommend it.
"Pompeii" tells the story of the legendary natural disaster that covered the Italian city of Pompeii and its residents in ashes preserving their bodies for eternity. Like "Titanic" "Pompeii" mixes in a starcrossed lovers story into the disaster genre. Following the rich girllovespoorboy trope a wealthy woman named Cassia (played by Emily Browning of "Sucker Punch") falls in love with an enslaved gladiator named Milo (played by Kit Harrington of "Game of Thrones"). When Pompeii's volcano erupts it is up to Milo to save Cassia from being left to die in the eruption (there is more to the story but I don't want to give anything away).
Admittedly the love story is by far less convincing than the one in Titanic. The two leads Cassia and Milo spend a bare minimum of time getting to know each other and their relationship lacks development. However in a disaster movie that focuses more on providing audience pleasing thrills this is much less of a problem than it could have been.
On the contrary Milo's relationship with a fellow slave named Atticus (played by Adewale AkinnuoyeAgbaje of "Thor The Dark World") is surprisingly well developed throughout the film. In the first act Milo learns that he must face Atticus a man who has been promised freedom after one more battle. Several scenes of dialogue in a prison cell and action in the arena they are forced to fight in give the audience a good feel for who these characters are and give a good enough reason to root for them. Considering that this is a disaster movie made by Paul W.S. Anderson both characters have a substantial amount of substance to them and the actors give good enough performances to make their friendship believable.
On the subject of Mr. Anderson I have never really been a fan of his work. "The Three Musketeers" was mediocre at best and his "Resident Evil" movies are absolutely dreadful. Here he seems to have improved his ability to tell a story though there are a few flaws here and there that carry over from his other works. Much like Ȫlien vs. Predator" Anderson struggles to properly light a few nighttime scenes casting what could have been a great looking shot into 50% blackness. In addition his editing can occasionally be choppy but compared to something like "I Frankenstein" it's nowhere near as jarring.
To his credit which I believe is often overlooked Mr. Anderson certainly knows how to stage and take advantage of an action setpiece. One scene involving gladiators fighting soldiers chained to a spiked pillar made full use of its environment and will likely have audiences entertained. Something else worth nothing are the special effects they are very well done and it is clear that the VFX team put a lot of effort into bringing the legendary eruption of Mt. Vesuvias to the big screen. What's even better is the 3D lately 3D has been sorely mediocre in Hollywood films but in this case it is very effective. From volcanic ashes to falling beams of wood "Pompeii" succeeds in taking full advantage of the 3D technology with stunning results.
The last act of the film is among one of the most thrilling disaster scenes I have ever scene in recent years. Fans of disaster movies will likely be pleased by all of the mindless carnage and destruction and like �" the visual grandeur is seatgrippingly epic.
"Pompeii" is nowhere near a highquality film nor is it free from typical Hollywood clichés. However this was not a film that left me feeling insulted or just jaded. Rather this was actually a memorable disasteraction period piece that I could easily recommend taking some friends to see. The experience alone is pretty damn cool.