Read Mixed User Reviews for Pompeii

6

csw12May 4, 2014

Pompeii has moments were I see greatness in how the movie was filmed and times were it becomes a little embarrassing. As a whole the director seem to try and make a movie that was action packed, suspenseful and incorporate a love story thatPompeii has moments were I see greatness in how the movie was filmed and times were it becomes a little embarrassing. As a whole the director seem to try and make a movie that was action packed, suspenseful and incorporate a love story that would all come together but in the end came up a little short.… Expand

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6

NightReviewsFeb 24, 2014

Pompeii is the type of epic disaster movie with a story-line centered on the brief and wholly unrealistic love story of a couple who just barely meets, a type of movie that is typically expected of directer Roland Emmerich (Independence Day,Pompeii is the type of epic disaster movie with a story-line centered on the brief and wholly unrealistic love story of a couple who just barely meets, a type of movie that is typically expected of directer Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla). Instead, surprisingly, Pompeii is directed by Resident Evil chief Paul W.S Anderson who visits the ancient Roman town-city with all the expected cliches of the disaster movie format that have become all too predictable. Thankfully, Emmerich hasn’t been able to deliver in a genre that he practically moulded as of recently, and Anderson gives audiences a fine, entertaining specimen of blockbuster proportions, with no shortage of historical inaccuracy.

The beauty about the legacy of the ancient Roman city, for Anderson at least, is that there has yet to be any sort of blockbuster feature film centered on it. Pompeii, a small port city which is located not too far from the base of Mount Vesuvius, experienced an eruption in or around 79 AD. The catastrophic eruption destroyed the city of Pompeii, as well as the surrounding cities including Herculaneum. However, unlike it’s cinematic interpretation, most of the people who died from the eruption did not suffer from flying lava bullets, tidal waves due to shifts in the Earth’s crust, or large holes in the street; rather, they died from extreme heat and suffocation as a result of the ash clouds. But we all know no one wants to see a movie where people just drop to the street and die. That’s what happened in The Happening, and no one wants to see that again, even if it is set against the amazing city of Pompeii.

The truth remains, Pompeii is a large scale, slave-centered, disaster epic with hints of Gladiator and 300 all rolled into an ‘end of the world’ narrative. For the most part, the film is a satisfying display of Hollywood’s fascination with artificially sweetening historical events, making them grandiose and affecting. Like any good looming disaster, there is always hope for love, redemption and justice, which is exactly what Pompeii sets out to achieve.

Thanks to the success of 300 and audiences’ obsession with **** male bodies, no film set anytime in the ancient period, can have an actor show up on screen without a picture perfect set of washboard abs–an ingenious way to bring young and old female fare to the theatres. You gotta love multi-million dollar Hollywood marketing strategies. This time, the lucky stud to completely transform his body (if only temporarily) is Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington.

The film follows the constantly oiled up and über muscular gladiator Milo (Harington). Milo is happily born and raised in a small village belonging to the Celtic Horsemen Creed until one cold night when Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), a senator under Titus and his Roman regime, comes and rips away everything Milo had come to know including his family, simply for the lust of land and rule. Lost and left for dead, Milo is thrust into slavery and raised among gladiators. Along with a vow to take revenge on Corvus, he grows up to be a lean, mean, gladiator-ific fighting machine. Almost two decades later, Milo’s amazing skills are noticed by a Pompeii aristocrat and gladiator recruit Graecus (Joe Pingue) and Milo is sent to Pompeii, where he meets and falls in love with the princess of the land, Cassia (Emily Browning). Unbeknownst to the inhabitants of Pompeii, something disastrous is brewing high inside the mountain leering down on them, ready to deliver a fate that quickly becomes a highly spectacle yet doomed story of honour, family, and love.

I am sure that there were many reasons why Anderson took on this project, especially since he is infamous for forcefully introducing 3D into his productions. His constant need for including the over-used movie gimmick is more than enough reason to revive pretty much anything, like Spider-Man for example. But, for the first time in a film made just for 3D, Pompeii surprisingly uses the fancy tool to it’s advantage and at times becomes almost unnoticeable, which is something that I haven’t really experienced during a film, especially one I wasn’t anticipating much from.

Although the film’s exterior focuses on Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction it is patiently planning, the heart and soul of the film seems to be centered on Harington and co-star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Never have I seen a film where the two leads bond so much over the discussion of how they plan to kill one another. Sworn to be enemies and destined to fight to the death, the two men also happen to share the same cell, which kind of takes away from the imminent threat of death. But just like anything mass produced and destined for redemption, the two begin a friendship that sees them saving each other’s lives countless time; defying Rome and Corvus as well as giving one another a chance at retribution. The scenes between Harington and Agbaje are easily the best.… Expand

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4

ThegodfathersonFeb 22, 2014

Anderson's film does a decent job in making ancient Pompeii come to life. You get a sense of what differentiates Romans from the citizens of Pompeii, the geography and culture of the place, and the production values seem solid enough for whatAnderson's film does a decent job in making ancient Pompeii come to life. You get a sense of what differentiates Romans from the citizens of Pompeii, the geography and culture of the place, and the production values seem solid enough for what was probably a mid-to-lower end of high-budget film. However, the visual effects, which only become more important as the film progresses, vary in quality. Director Paul W.S. Anderson and his writers borrow heavily from Best Picture winners Titanic and Gladiator for their decidedly not-Oscar-worthy disaster epic Pompeii. But if you just want to see mother nature lose her s**t then Pompeii has enough to satiate your craving for molten mayhem.… Expand

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5

MiMi_HuntingtonFeb 28, 2014

The film is not that bad, but it isn't good either. Kiefer Sutherland’s fake accent made me laugh every single time. Solid acting, but unfortunately I expected more from this movie. There are a few scenes that were so good and so cool, butThe film is not that bad, but it isn't good either. Kiefer Sutherland’s fake accent made me laugh every single time. Solid acting, but unfortunately I expected more from this movie. There are a few scenes that were so good and so cool, but again, not the best movie. Certainly could have been done better.… Expand

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5

vikesh2206Nov 10, 2014

The love story is cheesy, the dialogue is predictable, the middle is boring, the politics are uninteresting and there is action overkill but overall, Pompeii is still very entertaining and all that amounts to one guilty pleasure.

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6

LeZeeMay 26, 2014

Some of Paul WS Anderson movies were awesome and some were not, mixed bag to me. It is always a tricky to choose his movies to watch. Anyway, I went for it which was based on the historic disaster subject. Something like the movie 'Titanic',Some of Paul WS Anderson movies were awesome and some were not, mixed bag to me. It is always a tricky to choose his movies to watch. Anyway, I went for it which was based on the historic disaster subject. Something like the movie 'Titanic', only theme was based on the real, but the story was a fictional. I was curious about the merge of newly written story than what I heard about Pompeii in history books.

Todays graphics on the fingertip is the reason to recreating the historic movies. The second century after the motion picture was invented is on course to right direction. Many filmmakers utilised it very well and some are overly whelmed with too much graphics like the movie '300'. But still those were awesome to revisit ancient time just like we assumed it to be while reading history books. So my expectations were usual to see men with beautiful costumes and to know more about our extinct cultures.

This was the romance tale with lots of actions and adventures. This movie badly missed the star powers. Since it was a German-Canadian collaboration the cast was recruited from everywhere to make it an international product. Well, I thought the lead actor was a little short though his performance was good. The others like Emily Browning, Kiefer Southerland and Adewale were better, but the pace of the movie did not give them more opportunity to exhibit and develop their respective characters.

Yes, it was the story which rushed too fast towards the ending. Another 20 minutes of drama in the initial parts would have been the perfect setup for the story like this. Especially the character Cassia needed it and also a bit Atticus before all these three meet at one point. So it seems the movie maker's plan was commercial purpose than quality of art and presentation. Anyway the entertainment was there, but not the value and standards. A slight disappointment movie, though it can be watchable at once.… Expand

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5

MikimaxFeb 21, 2015

Can't say that is great nor bad. It's like ''meh''.
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