Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje are among the stars in Paul W. S. Anderson’s big budget adventure, “Pompeii.”
POMPEII
TriStar Pictures
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 105 minutes
Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
Produced by Jeremy Bolt, Paul W. S. Anderson, Robert Kulzer, Don Carmody
Screenplay by Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler, Michael Robert Johnson
Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas, Jared Harris, Kiefer Sutherland
Studio Synopsis:
Set in 79 A.D., POMPEII tells the epic story of Milo (Kit Harington), a slave turned invincible gladiator who finds himself in a race against time to save his true love Cassia (Emily Browning), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts in a torrent of blazing lava, Milo must fight his way out of the arena in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him.
Lisa’s Take:
Pompeii was an ancient Italian city quickly engulfed by an erupting volcano in 79 A.D. – a tragic event made famous because it left behind the shapes of its victims perfectly encased in hot ash. 1800 years later, archaeologists made plaster molds of Mt. Vesuvius’ victims – some embracing, some writhing in agony – giving us intimate knowledge of their last few seconds of life.
That’s how “Pompeii” begins – with close ups of some of these hauntingly preserved human figures – so we already know the devastating fate in store.
With the angering mountain belching periodically in the background, “Milo,” played by Kit Harington, is a cute, baby-faced slave with six-pack abs. He is the notorious “Celt,” a gladiator with a vendetta to avenge his family, murdered by the evil Roman Senator Corvus, who Kiefer Sutherland plays as a surprisingly delightful love-to-hate villain. Even though Milo looks eight inches shorter than most his fellow gladiators, he emerges victorious and gets sent to Pompeii for some real fighting action. On the way he meets a forbidden love interest, Lady Cassia (Emily Browning) and as fate would have it, Senator Corvus is on the scene as well, stalking Lady Cassia. The mountain rumbles, the slaves fight, and an unlikely alliance develops between Milo and his fellow gladiator, Atticus (played by the enchanting and very tall Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). The senator goes about his manipulative ways and Milo has his opportunity for revenge. All while the city is getting hit with molten lava bombs and a tsunami. You can figure out the rest.
Throw together a few gladiators and evil Romans, earthquakes and horses, lots of sword fighting and a love interest from opposite sides of the track, and you have a predictable, boring, expensive blockbuster that had me cheering for the volcano.