Pompeii Review

Pompeii
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss
5/10

An eruption of clichés and cheesy dialogue is just about all that can be expected of a film like Pompeii, and that’s exactly what you get in Paul W.S. Anderson’s new action-disaster-romance movie.

Set in 79 AD, the film follows gladiator-slave Milo, played by Kit Harington, as he battles against an unusually large number of plot points ranging from revenge and true love to natural disaster. Not-so-subtle allusions to the imminent eruption of Mount Vesuvius are aplenty, just in case no one picked up on what was going to happen from the title. Conveniently, the volcano waits for all said plot points to converge before actually blowing up.

If any Games of Thrones fans were hoping to see Kit Harington showcase his acting abilities and not just his abs they will be sorely disappointed. Harington as the brooding Milo seems to have but one facial expression, which becomes tiresome long before Mount Vesuvius explodes. The script doesn’t give him much to work with, to be fair, and somehow it’s still easy enough to cheer him on against the villainous Romans.

The fight scenes were exciting to watch, but overall the whole Gladiator aspect of the film was a little disappointing in how heavily it borrows from Ridley Scott’s far superior film.

Its not exactly a movie you would watch to further your historical knowledge, but if you are after some mindless and trashy fun, then there is absolutely nothing to go against.

Evelyn Lawrence