Pompeii
Ancient Roman era disaster movie from director Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil). A young slave (Game of Thrones' Kit Harrington) races to save the woman he loves as the dreaded, volcanic Mt Vesuvius threatens to erupt and destroy the city. Also stars Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Milo (Harrington) was the sole survivor of the massacre of his family and tribe in Brittania by Corvus (Sutherland). Sold into slavery, the child grew to become a talented gladiator and was brought to fight in Pompeii, where he catches the eye of the ruler's daughter Cassia (Browning). As the warning signs of Mt Vesuvius' impending eruption go unheeded, Milo has his hands full just staying alive in the gladatorial arena as Corvus stacks the odds against him - but the catastrophic fireballs unleashed by the volcano soon imperil everyone in the city including Cassia, whom Milo sets out to save from this violent natural disaster.
- Director:
- Paul W.S. Anderson ('The Three Musketeers', 'Resident Evil', 'Resident Evil: Afterlife', 'AVP: Alien vs. Predator')
- Writer:
- Janet Scott BatchlerLee BatchlerMichael Robert JohnsonJulian Fellowes
- Cast:
- Emily BrowningKit HaringtonJessica LucasCarrie-Anne MossKiefer SutherlandPaz VegaJared Harris
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Aaron Yap
flicksThough the film’s raison d'etre is historically sound (Mount Vesuvius did erupt and destroy Pompeii in 79 AD), everything else is fictional, pure potboiler pulp, economically mixing romance, politics and revenge into the pot. Between the blandly attractive leads delivering leaden dialogue, Sutherland’s entertainingly hammy performance, and the copious amounts of steel-abbed sword combat, there’s a lot of cheddar to work through here.
Erupting Performances
Kit Harrington from Game of Thrones delivers a performance worthy of the big screen. It was always going to be difficult to stick with history and at the same time keep the audience happy, I think the director has achieved this. Combining action sequences worthy of a Gladiator sequel and with a hint of romance to equalise the revenge stakes that grow...
Variety
pressProves less successful at combining destruction and damsel-in-distress storytelling within the same frame.
The New York Times
pressThough the film’s gorgeous color palette resembles burnished jewelry, there is a staleness and overfamiliarity...
Sydney Morning Herald
pressWhen you find yourself wishing the lava would hurry up and engulf the city sooner, the movie is in trouble.
Flicks, Aaron Yap
flicksThough the film’s raison d'etre is historically sound (Mount Vesuvius did erupt and destroy Pompeii in 79 AD), everything else is fictional, pure potboiler pulp, economically mixing romance, politics and revenge into the pot. Between the blandly attractive leads delivering leaden dialogue, Sutherland’s entertainingly hammy performance, and the copious amounts of steel-abbed sword combat, there’s a lot of cheddar to work through here.
Variety
pressProves less successful at combining destruction and damsel-in-distress storytelling within the same frame.
The New York Times
pressThough the film’s gorgeous color palette resembles burnished jewelry, there is a staleness and overfamiliarity...
Sydney Morning Herald
pressWhen you find yourself wishing the lava would hurry up and engulf the city sooner, the movie is in trouble.
Erupting Performances
Kit Harrington from Game of Thrones delivers a performance worthy of the big screen. It was always going to be difficult to stick with history and at the same time keep the audience happy, I think the director has achieved this. Combining action sequences worthy of a Gladiator sequel and with a hint of romance to equalise the revenge stakes that grow...
Share