Pompeii is the
latest big-budget disaster movie to grace cinema screens, and judging by the
trailers and promotion you’d find it easy to simply dismiss it as ‘Titanic with a volcano’. Directed by Paul
W.S Anderson, the film stars Kit Harington (Game
of Thrones) as Milo – a gladiator with a grudge against the Romans who slew
his family – and follows the young barbarian as he attempts to overcome his
situation and save his newfound love Cassia (Emily Browning) from a bleak future
of servitude and – once the volcanic calamity befalls the town – a fiery death.
The film’s greatest strength is its epic visuals, which are
a terrific blend of CGI and practical sets, costumes and effects, creating a
very impressive recreation of the Roman Empire in its prime, long sweeping
vistas of the coastal town and Vesuvius lending a great sense of scale. This is
continued when the volcano explodes, huge swathes of fiery rocks (technically
not historically accurate) soaring across the sky and reducing buildings and
entire stadiums to burning wreckage. An epic musical score supplied by Clinton
Shorter and thunderous sound design are brought in to add finishing touches to
a truly extraordinary spectacle. Even the 3D – though rather un-noticeable in
the earlier stages of the film – adds a nice sense of dimensionality to the
clouds of ash swirling about and flaming rocks swooping towards the camera.
As far as the character drama is concerned, it’s quite
surprising to see a film from Anderson that at least takes its
time to try and develop back-stories and relationships between characters
rather than rush straight into the explosions. They may not be the best rounded
characters and the attempt to make the audience sympathise with them is not
entirely successful, but there’s plenty here to enjoy.
Kit Harington does his best with a rather flimsy script,
sporting a believable air of someone who has been forged by slavery and battle,
whilst Kiefer Sutherland is huge fun in full-on, high-camp mode as a leering
Roman senator. Jared Harris also fares well as Cassia’s rebellious father, but
is sadly criminally underused, and Carrie-Anne Moss (despite being touted as
one of the leads by most of the film’s promotion) is given very little to do
and feels like set dressing rather than a fully-developed character. The love
story between Milo and Cassia (portrayed perfectly amiably by Browning as an
oppressed but resourceful young woman) is rushed and under-developed, but
reaches a rather surprising and quite freshly daring conclusion as the film
reaches its climax.
Pompeii may not be
the most character-driven disaster epic, but at a nippy 100 minutes it doesn’t
overstay its welcome, sports blistering visuals and a good, old-fashioned popcorn
spectacle sensibility that is certainly a lot more enjoyable than Anderson’s
more recent turkeys. It’s not quite Event
Horizon, but heck, I’ll take Pompeii
over another Resident Evil sequel any
day.
3 Stars
