Film Review: Pompeii

Written by:

Louisse Lopez, Year 12

Title: "Pompeii" (2014)
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Kit Harrington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Ann Moss
Rating:

“Pompeii” was a disappointing experience. One would think that a film centred on a legendary disaster would be intriguing; but alas, under Paul W. S. Anderson’s lead – who also directed Resident Evil - this would not be the case. The director takes one of the most fascinating tragedies and turns it into an overly familiar, mindless story that we’ve all seen one too many times.

Set in 79 AD, “Pompeii” tells the story of the ancient disaster that buried the Roman city of Pompeii under ashes. It revolves around the character of Milo - played by Kit Harington from Game of Thrones - an enslaved gladiator who, at a young age, witnessed the massacre of his entire family at the hands of the Roman soldiers led by Senator Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland, 24). Born with exceptional combat skills, he quickly becomes the most elite gladiator and is subsequently sent, along with several other gladiators, to Pompeii, to fight in an arena for a great event.

On his way there, he encounters young Cassia (Emily Browning, Sucker Punch), the daughter of a wealthy magnate. They have a little ‘meet-cute’ over a dying horse and of course, they fall in love. Unfortunately, it is love not meant to be; their love is forbidden as they belong to different classes.

Also headed to Pompeii is Senator Corvus, the man who is responsible for the slaughter of Milo’s familiar. To make matters more interesting, Corvus intends to take Cassia for himself. He threatens to demolish her father’s plans to rebuild Pompeii and endangers the lives of her parents, so making it impossible for her to refuse him. Meanwhile, Milo and the other slaves are preparing for a gory gladiatorial battle where he is to be pitted against Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Thor: The Dark World), an African slave who is a single fight away from becoming a free man. Will Milo and Atticus both survive and come out of this as allies? Will Cassia have another chance encounter with Milo? Will Milo finally get his revenge on Senator Corvus?

There are so many things wrong with this movie.  Let’s start with the plot as it is clearly borrowed from other films. It’s basically a poor man’s “Gladiator.” In both films, you have a warrior, talented at slaying. In both cases, this warrior is enslaved after having his family murdered by a wicked Roman leader, befriends an African gladiator who aids him in battle, and then falls hopelessly in love with a woman of a higher social rank. The director even uses the familiar device of the poor boy/rich girl plot as a precursor for the inevitable tragedy. Sound familiar? It’s “Titanic.” But, of course, with a fire and ash-spewing volcano.

Another questionable aspect of the movie is its characters. The description Milo and Cassia is entirely misleading: they are neither stars nor do they appear to be lovers. They are so basic and dull; in fact, it would not be out of step to say they have absolute no personalities and lack any emotional depth. There isn’t even much chemistry between the two. Watching them from my seat, I found it difficult to elicit a single ounce of sympathy for them. I wouldn’t have cared if their characters were killed. It was, also, disappointing to see Kit Harington reduced being a mere ‘eye candy’. The one thing I remembered about his character was his abs, which were so defined that it prompted me to react like Emma Stone did in “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “Seriously? It’s like you’re Photoshopped!” It’s sad this beauty of his wasn’t matched by a compelling factor of personality.

Of course, these failings are mostly rooted in the way the script was crafted. “Pompeii” is loaded with clichés that are supposed to be entertaining, such as, “You dragged me out of a perfectly acceptable brothel for this.” Do the scriptwriters really think that their audience would find this amusing? What’s worse is the cheesy romantic lines exchanged between the lovers, Milo and Cassia. The dialogue is so weak that I am prompted to think George Lucas has written it himself i.e. “Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo; so long ago when there was nothing but our love”.

Despite it’s weak-points, I can’t say “Pompeii” is a complete disaster. What saves this film from achieving a score of zero is the action; these scenes are the only enjoyable part of the movie. The gladiator battles are so well choreographed and thrilling to watch, they kept me on the edge of my seat. The highlight of the film, for instance, is the eruption of the volcano in which Paul W. S. Anderson makes great use of CGI to convey this destructive force. It bursts clouds of ash, launches fireballs across the sky, and churns the mighty seas. To be sure, Anderson succeeds in captivating viewers with this impressive spectacle.

“Pompeii” is a hot mess of clichés and cringe-worthy dialogue; however, it redeems itself with fun scenes of action and destruction. It is a silly adaptation of the legendary disaster but is somewhat good in the way of entertainment.

Written by:

Louisse Lopez, Year 12

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