Opening 27 Feb 2014
Directed by:
Paul W.S. Anderson
Writing credits:
Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler, Michael Robert Johnson
Principal actors:
Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Browning, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas
The plot of the movie is easily retold: Titanic meets Gladiator, with a dash of Deep Impact at the end. Just like Rose's sweet, short love affair with Jack on the Titanic, Pompeii's lovers, the slave Milo (Kit Harrington) and the wealthy Cassia (Emily Browning), find themselves confronted with the obstacle of class differences, which only the tragic end of a catastrophe may solve. Leaving the cinema I felt like I had seen this movie many times before. A couple of hot, half-naked men fighting to the death might have spiced the story up a little, but I was still waiting throughout the whole movie for Russell Crowe to finally appear to end this whole thing, only to realize the Gladiator wouldn't come; wrong movie. The natural catastrophe of Vesuvius' eruption does have its appeal, as the movie is in 3D, which, however, proves to be unnecessary in approximately two thirds of the movie. The 3D effects are really impressive when the tsunami floods the city, fire is raining down from the sky and giant flying rocks destroy all that is left of Pompeii.
Nevertheless, I recommend this movie to sweet young lovers who have just started dating. She can cuddle up at his shoulder, disgusted by the old geezer (Keifer Sutherland) who wants to force the beautiful Cassia into marrying him, and drool over all the hot gladiator bodies, while her cute date dreams of being as cool and strong as the hunky slave Milo. (Karen Eve Malinowski O’Shaughnessy)
