Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Hollywood films can have a certain predictability to them – there has to be a protagonist that his down on his luck and facing almost impossible odds, a love-interest, a thoroughly evil enemy, and a great challenge. Pompeii does all of these things in a formulaic fashion – not bad, but one won’t leave the cinema thinking they saw something fresh and innovative.
The film begins in northern Britannia, where a young boy named Milo sees his family and whole tribe – the Celtic Horse Peoples – slaughtered by a Roman general, and he gets captured and becomes a slave.
Fifteen years later we see Milo (played by Kit Harington of Game of Thrones fame) is still a slave and fights as a gladiator, where his fighting prowess gets noticed and he is shipped off to Pompeii. As he arrives in the city, so does the Roman general, now Senator (Keifer Sutherland, who does not seem like an apt choice to be a Roman leader) as does our female lead, Cassia (Emily Browning).
The film makes it very clear that all Romans are bad guys, although the people of Pompeii are ‘citizens of Pompeii’, not Rome. Most of the characters are one-dimensional, and at times the motives and actions of the antagonists don’t make too much sense.
The other main character of the film is Mount Vesuvius, which looms over Pompeii and erupts at an appropriate time. This changes the film from a gladiator-fighting-the-world-story to a escape-the-disaster-story. In many ways this film will remind you of Titanic.
Those hoping to see the history of Pompeii will be disappointed – very little time is spent looking at the daily life of the Roman city. Since this film was shot entirely in Toronto, everything is computer-generated, which further diminishes any genuine feel to the work.
Ultimately Pompeii comes across as a tame film – it might offer the viewer a few interesting bits, but ultimately it is very forgettable.
Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Hollywood films can have a certain predictability to them – there has to be a protagonist that his down on his luck and facing almost impossible odds, a love-interest, a thoroughly evil enemy, and a great challenge. Pompeii does all of these things in a formulaic fashion – not bad, but one won’t leave the cinema thinking they saw something fresh and innovative.
The film begins in northern Britannia, where a young boy named Milo sees his family and whole tribe – the Celtic Horse Peoples – slaughtered by a Roman general, and he gets captured and becomes a slave.
Fifteen years later we see Milo (played by Kit Harington of Game of Thrones fame) is still a slave and fights as a gladiator, where his fighting prowess gets noticed and he is shipped off to Pompeii. As he arrives in the city, so does the Roman general, now Senator (Keifer Sutherland, who does not seem like an apt choice to be a Roman leader) as does our female lead, Cassia (Emily Browning).
The film makes it very clear that all Romans are bad guys, although the people of Pompeii are ‘citizens of Pompeii’, not Rome. Most of the characters are one-dimensional, and at times the motives and actions of the antagonists don’t make too much sense.
The other main character of the film is Mount Vesuvius, which looms over Pompeii and erupts at an appropriate time. This changes the film from a gladiator-fighting-the-world-story to a escape-the-disaster-story. In many ways this film will remind you of Titanic.
Those hoping to see the history of Pompeii will be disappointed – very little time is spent looking at the daily life of the Roman city. Since this film was shot entirely in Toronto, everything is computer-generated, which further diminishes any genuine feel to the work.
Ultimately Pompeii comes across as a tame film – it might offer the viewer a few interesting bits, but ultimately it is very forgettable.
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