Movie Review: Pompeii

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Kit Harington & Emily Browning

In A Few Words: A historical action/drama about the residents of Pompeii just before and during the eruption of Mt Vesuvius.

Rating: 7/10

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

Directorial finesse is not a word you would generally associate with films by Paul W.S. Anderson. Indeed, there is little subtlety to be found during Pompeii 3D, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most famous for his series of Resident Evil films, starring his wife Milla Jolovich, Anderson has carte blanche to create a world and destroy it as spectacularly – and violently – as possible.

In Pompeii 3D, there is a similar mission statement, this one dictated by the course of history, and you cannot deny that the final destruction of the seaside resort city is anything but spectacular film-making. 3D effects are used well, and although historians believe that the city’s eventual and total destruction took two agonising days, Pompeii 3D shows it all happening a great deal quicker than that.

In a breathtaking span of about forty-five minutes, Mt Vesuvius blows it’s top and the population of the city beneath it is doomed to a fiery end. Parts of the film looked more like the sci-fi that Anderson is used to directing, with meteors streaking across the sky as red hot lava rolled down the steep slope towards the town and thick black smoke billows towards the heavens, blotting out the sun as the populace, full of panic, heads for the harbour, the hills, anywhere they can to try and escape. Inevitably, though, there is no escape. It’s epic stuff, Mother Nature’s wrath, destruction on the grandest of scales.

The volcano starts rumbling early in the film, as citizens are lost in cracks opened by the tremors, and in the city’s gladiator arena, where men fight and die, the murmurs from Mt Vesuvius, a portent of things to come, interrupt a tournament that is being hosted by the city’s ruler, Severus. In town for those festivities is a Roman politician named Corvus (Sutherland), famous for wiping out an entire tribe of Celtic horsemen years before. All, that is, except one a boy, who was captured by slave traders. 

Seventeen years later, and the boy, Milo (Harington), has become a man, and a handy gladiator. Milo is in the tournament over which Corvus, who had designs on marrying Severus’ young daughter Cassia (Browning), who has returned early from a year in Rome, and Milo desires revenge. As it turns out, he also desires Cassia – and the attraction is mutual – which earns him further enmity from Corvus, who resorts to blackmailing Cassia’s parents to ensure he gets what he wants: their daughter. The two have a history.

The gladiator combat scenes are impressive, perhaps the best part of the film other than the destruction of the city, but the scenes between Milo and Cassia seem like they were thrown in to attract the eyeballs of those who enjoy a little romance with their historical dramas. You know, the same types who enjoyed Pearl Harbour and Titanic for more than the sinking or bombing. 

The fact that the two doomed lovers have very little time together before Mt Vesuvius blows it’s top doesn’t help, either. The film could have run for longer and fleshed out the romance story a little more, but it’s a minor quibble from me, because I wasn’t actually there for that subplot. All I wanted to see was how the town met it’s lava-streaked end.

In the face of the volcanic eruption, Milo and Corvus battle – you could see that coming a mile away – for the woman they both love, and, in Milo’s case, to avenge his tribe’s slaughter and…well, you probably realise which of those two fares better. It’s rather standard stuff, borrowing from swords-and-sandals epics of years gone by. Though somewhat formulaic, it’s still exciting, particularly with a backdrop of the Vesuvius eruption.

The only problem with films like this is that you know how it ends. Pompeii is covered by ash and lava, and remains, to this day, a fascinating place for historians and tourists alike, and even though the ending was obvious, the last few scenes are surprisingly depressing – you’re not exactly walking out of the cinema with a smile on your face.

Not the greatest film ever, but solid entertainment. If you’re looking for something that’s easy to watch on a Friday night, Pompeii 3D is a good choice.