Pompeii
2.5/4
Starring: Kit Harrington, Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jared Harris
Rated PG-13 for Intense Battle Sequences, Disaster-Related Action and Brief Sexual Content
"Pompeii" isn't so much a bad movie as it is a disappointing one. Essentially, this is a doomed love story set against a huge disaster. Unfortunately, a frantic pace and mediocre storytelling nearly sink the movie.
In AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii under a fountain of lava and ash. Estimates vary (in fact, it's highly unlikely that a conclusive number will ever be reached), but around 16,000 people died in one of the most devastating natural disasters in human history (the film's bookending sequences come a little too close to exploitation because of this). The majority of the film takes place in the days leading up to the eruption.
Milo (Harrington) is a young gladiator who is dominating in the ring. He is set to go against Atticus (Akinnuoye-Agabe), who is one win away from retirement. On the way to Rome where he will fight to the death, he puts down an injured horse. That gains the attention of Cassia (Browning), a young Patrician returning from Rome. Their second meeting causes them to fall deeply in love. But there is another man who has his sights set on Cassia. That's Senator Corvus (Sutherland), a truly nasty piece of work that Cassia's father (Harris) must schmooze to get an investment from Rome. Fate has other ideas for these people.
This is great material for an epic melodrama like this. Forbidden love, violence, betrayal...all the good stuff. There's no reason this couldn't have worked had it been handled better. Unfortunately, that's the film's key failing. The skill needed to tell a grand melodrama like this exceeds the limited talents of action director Paul W.S. Anderson.
In order to understand where "Pompeii" went wrong (and there are a few obvious ways where it did), it's probably best to compare it to it's role model, "Titanic," as James Berardinelli did. First and foremost is the pacing. James Cameron took his time crafting his characters and exploring the ship. Sure, it took three hours, but stories like this need room to breathe. Anderson paces his film so frantically that every time we get involved in the scene, he rushes to the next one. The eruption itself is more like an interruption rather than a catalyst. Second, he allowed the romance to slowly burn then catch fire. We spent almost the entire film with Jack and Rose. Milo and Cassia only share a few scenes. Harrington and Browning have chemistry (although neither one gives a particularly good performance), but they spend so little time together that we have little investment in their relationship. Finally, there's character development. Jack and Rose were three-dimensional people that we rooted for and cared about. Milo and Cassia are stick figures. Who cares what happens to them?
The performances don't help much. Anderson isn't an actor's director, and it shows. Talented actors like Harrington, Browning and Carrie-Anne Moss are flat. Jared Harris is interesting mainly because he isn't playing someone sleazy (for once), but he has so little screen time that there's nothing that he can do. The only one who sticks out is Kiefer Sutherland, who is deliciously evil. Admittedly, the thought of Sutherland in a period piece makes one think of Jack Bauer playing dress up, but Sutherland is having a ball chewing the scenery. The film is almost worth seeing because of him.
Another failing of the film are the special effects. With all the tools at his disposal, Anderson can't create a sense of spectacle. The film never becomes larger-then-life. There's no "wow" factor. When we first see Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, it's decidedly unimpressive (the second shot is more epic). As lame as "Gladiator" was, it at least understood the genre. The film looks like it was made on the cheap. The eruption is a case in point. There are some pretty cool special effects, but Anderson can't capture the immensity of it. Compared to the sinking of the Titanic, this is flat-out boring. Part of the reason is the special effects. Admittedly, the film looks great, and there's plenty of eye-candy. But that's all it is, just some cool visuals. Pompeii never becomes real.
Simply put, this is a poorly told story. Epic melodramas are difficult to get right, but Anderson botches it at every turn. He doesn't understand the rhythm of a story like this, and has no idea what are the emotional highs and lows. The big emotional scenes are surprisingly limp.
Also disappointing is the PG-13 rating. A film about gladiators demands an R rating, and the editing needed to eliminate the blood and carnage couldn't be more obvious. While an R rated version wouldn't mean much in terms of the quality of the film, it would be more honest and less emasculating. I hope they release an unrated extended version.
This is not a terrible movie. I was never bored and some of this stuff is pretty involving. But I was disappointed and frustrated because I kept seeing how good this movie could, and should, have been.
Starring: Kit Harrington, Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jared Harris
Rated PG-13 for Intense Battle Sequences, Disaster-Related Action and Brief Sexual Content
"Pompeii" isn't so much a bad movie as it is a disappointing one. Essentially, this is a doomed love story set against a huge disaster. Unfortunately, a frantic pace and mediocre storytelling nearly sink the movie.
In AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii under a fountain of lava and ash. Estimates vary (in fact, it's highly unlikely that a conclusive number will ever be reached), but around 16,000 people died in one of the most devastating natural disasters in human history (the film's bookending sequences come a little too close to exploitation because of this). The majority of the film takes place in the days leading up to the eruption.
Milo (Harrington) is a young gladiator who is dominating in the ring. He is set to go against Atticus (Akinnuoye-Agabe), who is one win away from retirement. On the way to Rome where he will fight to the death, he puts down an injured horse. That gains the attention of Cassia (Browning), a young Patrician returning from Rome. Their second meeting causes them to fall deeply in love. But there is another man who has his sights set on Cassia. That's Senator Corvus (Sutherland), a truly nasty piece of work that Cassia's father (Harris) must schmooze to get an investment from Rome. Fate has other ideas for these people.
This is great material for an epic melodrama like this. Forbidden love, violence, betrayal...all the good stuff. There's no reason this couldn't have worked had it been handled better. Unfortunately, that's the film's key failing. The skill needed to tell a grand melodrama like this exceeds the limited talents of action director Paul W.S. Anderson.
In order to understand where "Pompeii" went wrong (and there are a few obvious ways where it did), it's probably best to compare it to it's role model, "Titanic," as James Berardinelli did. First and foremost is the pacing. James Cameron took his time crafting his characters and exploring the ship. Sure, it took three hours, but stories like this need room to breathe. Anderson paces his film so frantically that every time we get involved in the scene, he rushes to the next one. The eruption itself is more like an interruption rather than a catalyst. Second, he allowed the romance to slowly burn then catch fire. We spent almost the entire film with Jack and Rose. Milo and Cassia only share a few scenes. Harrington and Browning have chemistry (although neither one gives a particularly good performance), but they spend so little time together that we have little investment in their relationship. Finally, there's character development. Jack and Rose were three-dimensional people that we rooted for and cared about. Milo and Cassia are stick figures. Who cares what happens to them?
The performances don't help much. Anderson isn't an actor's director, and it shows. Talented actors like Harrington, Browning and Carrie-Anne Moss are flat. Jared Harris is interesting mainly because he isn't playing someone sleazy (for once), but he has so little screen time that there's nothing that he can do. The only one who sticks out is Kiefer Sutherland, who is deliciously evil. Admittedly, the thought of Sutherland in a period piece makes one think of Jack Bauer playing dress up, but Sutherland is having a ball chewing the scenery. The film is almost worth seeing because of him.
Another failing of the film are the special effects. With all the tools at his disposal, Anderson can't create a sense of spectacle. The film never becomes larger-then-life. There's no "wow" factor. When we first see Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, it's decidedly unimpressive (the second shot is more epic). As lame as "Gladiator" was, it at least understood the genre. The film looks like it was made on the cheap. The eruption is a case in point. There are some pretty cool special effects, but Anderson can't capture the immensity of it. Compared to the sinking of the Titanic, this is flat-out boring. Part of the reason is the special effects. Admittedly, the film looks great, and there's plenty of eye-candy. But that's all it is, just some cool visuals. Pompeii never becomes real.
Simply put, this is a poorly told story. Epic melodramas are difficult to get right, but Anderson botches it at every turn. He doesn't understand the rhythm of a story like this, and has no idea what are the emotional highs and lows. The big emotional scenes are surprisingly limp.
Also disappointing is the PG-13 rating. A film about gladiators demands an R rating, and the editing needed to eliminate the blood and carnage couldn't be more obvious. While an R rated version wouldn't mean much in terms of the quality of the film, it would be more honest and less emasculating. I hope they release an unrated extended version.
This is not a terrible movie. I was never bored and some of this stuff is pretty involving. But I was disappointed and frustrated because I kept seeing how good this movie could, and should, have been.
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