Pompeii
2014 · Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
Original language: English
- action
- adventure
- history
- romance
- drama
The story
In 79 A.D., Milo, a slave turned gladiator, finds himself in a race against time to save his true love Cassia, the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts in a torrent of blazing lava, Milo must fight his way out of the arena in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him.
What it’s like
Bright Mediterranean sunlight and hazy, ash-choked skies give this one a wide, saturated, disaster-movie look, with sweeping drone-style aerials of the Bay of Naples, sweaty arena close-ups, and glossy digital polish throughout. Warm golden daylight in the villas and gritty orange-grey gloom in the arena give way to a hellish red-and-black apocalypse once Vesuvius erupts, with rolling ash clouds, falling embers and CGI lava that takes over the frame. The score is big and orchestral, pounding percussion for the fights and swelling strings for the romance, and the effects-heavy finale is loud and relentless. The pacing is brisk and propulsive, with sword fights and tremors punctuating a steady push toward the climax. Its emotional register is earnest and melodramatic, a doomed-romance adventure in which a devoted, outmatched hero keeps charging toward his beloved. Violence is frequent and bloody: gladiatorial combat with stabbings and decapitation, plus crushing collapses and burning deaths in the eruption, with sexual content limited to a tame, chaste romance. This suits a Friday-night spectacle or a loud, undemanding action binge for viewers who enjoy ancient-world epics, big disaster set pieces and old-fashioned star-crossed romance.
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