I saw ‘Pompeii‘ in the wrong place and at the wrong time. Movies that heavily advertise their 3D effects must be seen in cinemas equipped with this projection technology. I skipped the movie at its time in cinemas, and I just saw it now at home, in reasonable conditions, but not in 3D, so I lost the thrill caused by the lava waves and fire boulders threatening my body integrity. The story of the film is of course a disaster that is famous from the history books, while the story that was crafted on it is kind of typical for the historical mega-productions at the mid-20th century, plus some melodrama a la ‘Titanic‘. Too late and too conventional for the second decade of the 21st century. Yet, the catastrophe remains on the screen, the film itself is not a disaster, rather like at the limit of acceptable entertainment.
Almost everything that’s happening in this movie prepares the special effects of the last 30 minutes. The story is a kind of simpler ‘Gladiator‘ that includes a love story between a Celt slave (played by Kit Harington) and a noble Roman girl (played by Emily Browning) that has just as much chances of being consumed as the people of Pompeii had to escape the disaster. Film director Paul W.S. Anderson fails to infuse too much life into this pretext-story, and focuses on rendering on screen bloody gladiator fights and the special effects of the volcano. These are really well-directed, the realism of the men’s confrontations in the arena and outside it being basically the only, let us say, modern features of the film.
The actors’ performances are acceptable. Besides the two actors in the main roles, the cast also includes Kiefer Sutherland, an actor I like to watch in any movie or TV series where he appears. The special effects are of good quality. Viewers looking for art movies have nothing to find in this film. Spectators who are looking for acceptable entertainment and who properly calibrate their expectations are likely to have a good time watching this movie.