Paul W.S. Anderson, he of Resident Evil franchise and Mortal Kombat fame, returns with this monumentally overblown and melodramatic schlockbuster that purports to tell what might have happened to the people of the fated city of Pompeii before the famous volcanic eruption in 62 AD.
Kit Harrington (currently seen as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones) stars as slave-turned-gladiator Milo – attempting to give the 300 Spartans a run for their money in the six pack department – who falls for Cassia (Emily Browning), the daughter of city ruler Severus (Jared Harris) and his wife Aurelia (Carrie-Anne Moss).
Unfortunately she has been betrothed to the sinister and power-hungry Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), who invests in Severus’ plans for a new and improved Pompeii. But when Mount Vesuvius, which the people of the city have hitherto been looking to as a God, starts erupting, Milo must race to save Cassia as the city is destroyed around him.
It’s a bombastic premise to begin with and Anderson’s treats it as such, from the first 80 minutes’ overdramatic goings on surrounding the “brutish” slave, his forbidden love and some nonsense about what is essentially a real estate transaction to the CGI-led finale in which we see the eponymous city literally crumble in a manner that wouldn’t be out of place at all in a Roland Emmerich film.
It’s full of good actors giving either hammy or downright dull performances; Sutherland and Harris are the former while Harrington and Browning fall firmly into the latter category, with only Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje being in any way convincing in his role as Milo’s newfound gladiator ally. The more over-the-top performances might have worked if the film had any semblance of its own ridiculousness but it unfortunately treats everything with such po-faced seriousness, including its gargantuan concluding set-piece that quite literally looms over the whole film before exploding into action, that it’s a lot less fun than it rightfully should be.
It’s yet another Hollywood blockbuster that is utterly derivate of what has come before it, content to play in the Gladiator sandbox one minute and then 2012 the next, chucking in some 300 and Troy just when you think it couldn’t get anymore familiar. When the action finally comes along it’s admittedly impressive to look at, with fireballs and buildings alike crashing down around a population attempting to swarm to safety. But it’s empty spectacle utterly reliant on CGI without bringing much, if any, ingenuity to the table and you never feel like the people getting crushed left, right and centre are real.
When you come to a film like this you shouldn’t exactly be expecting Shakespearean-level dialogue, a deep and meaningful exploration of forbidden love or a 100% accurate retelling of history. However, you should expect at least some semblance of wit, originality or believability so that we can engage with and invest in these characters before the inevitable catastrophe at the end. Unfortunately the film does nothing of the sort with a run-of-the-mill plot, unconvincing performances and spectacle that, while impressive on a technical level, is merely there to show off its $100 million price tag.
Pompeii is released in UK cinemas on April 30th.
I saw it last night and liked it. I didn’t recognize any of the actors/actresses besides Mr. Sutherland.