Review of Pompeii (2014) by Filipeneto — 31 Aug 2018

I confess I had some curiosity about this movie. Disaster films with volcanoes are no longer new ("Volcano" and "Dante's Peak" are good examples) but a film about a real historical fact as dramatic as the destruction of Pompeii (and the nearby city of Herculaneum) in 79 AD, is somewhat unusual. Unfortunately its much weaker than I thought it would be.

The plot is simple: a Celt, captured and enslaved after Romans massacred his family, becomes a successful gladiator and gets the attention of a wealthy Roman girl, disappointed in her culture's cruelty. When Vesuvius erupts, he will have the chance to flee with her and avenge his family, as the girl's forced bridegroom is, precisely, the one responsible for the massacre that has killed them. The influence of films and series such as "Gladiator", "Rome" and "Spartacus" is evident, but the fact is that the script is frankly underdeveloped, with characters so basic that we can summarize each one in a single word. Another problem I felt was the partiality of the plot, demonizing Roman civilization. The end of the film tries to be unpredictable but isn't properly capable of that, besides that makes everything too melodramatic. About historical accuracy... forget it. Who wrote the script totally ignored historical facts. That bombs or that tsunami are obscenities that attempt to the intelligence of those who know the basic about what actually happened in Pompeii.

Paul W.S. Anderson has a bad name as a director but this was his first movie that I actually watched. In this case, I recognize reason in the criticisms: he's a weak director, dazzled with the CGI but incompetent in the direction of the cast and the script. Regarding the cast, there are some heavy names like Kit Harington, Emily Browning and Kiefer Sutherland, but the performances were generally mediocre and uncompromising. It is true that the characters are too basic and underdeveloped but the actors also did not feel like sweating the shirt by their characters. Browning, for example, was unable to build a chemistry with his romantic pair. That intense love that should have existed is never there and everything sounds unlikely and artificial. Sutherland, who was the villain, is simply ham and histrionic. The best actor here was Akinnuoye-Agbaje, with a performance capable of harmonizing strength and action with some psychological depth and drama.

Visually, the film is a CGI feast and visual and sound effects of good quality and a lot of impact, mainly from half the film to the end. Cinematography helps, emphasizing the colors and with the camera moving quickly in the action scenes. The problem is that these were the only aspects where the film was really good, and this is not enough to make the movie good. It just makes it bearable.