Review // Pompeii

Jon Snow vs. The Volcano

Paul W.S. Anderson’s Pompeii tells the story of a young gladiator who finds himself caught between love and revenge in the doomed Italian city. Standard disaster fare through and through, the film borrows a lot, relying on it’s 3D special effects to stand out as a unique cinema experience. Delivering few surprises, and taking it’s sweet time getting to the inevitable calamity, the film hopes you’ll enjoy the spectacle so much, you won’t worry about substance.

The film follows Milo (Kit Harrington), a Celtic horseman turned gladiator bent on revenge against the Romans who murdered his family. After a expository flashback, followed by a quick display of his killing prowess, it’s off to Pompeii and a festival of games to celebrate the arrival of the evil Senator Corvus (a scenery chewing Kiefer Sutherland). On the road to the city Milo catches the eye of the beautiful Cassia (Emily Browning). Unfortunately Senator Corvus also has his eye on Cassia whose father – the wealthy merchant Severus (Jared Harris) – will do anything to please the Roman. Smouldering over everyone is the daunting profile of Mount Vesuvius. Despite the occasional earthquake though, no one thinks to pay it any mind.

Working from the Titanic model of forbidden love in the face of impending doom, Anderson banks on young up-and-coming actors to carry his story. While the looming natural disaster bubbles in the background, the love story fails to generate much heat. Kit Harrington – who fans of HBO’s Game of Thrones know as the brooding Jon Snow – is valiantly going full action-star in this one. He has bulked up and certainly looks the part, but in his dramatic moments he struggles to fill the large screen. Emily Browning is better, but is deserted by the script in the second act, relegated to hapless princess status once the action starts.

The supporting cast seem completely tacked on. A side plot involving Severus and his wife Aurelia (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeking Corvus’ investment  in the city seems completely unnecessary. Like many elements of the film, the economic well-being of Pompeii seems of little importance in the shadow of a volcano. A great storyteller like Shakespeare would lick his chops at such rich dramatic irony, but Shakespeare this ain’t. When the volcano finally blows it’s top, we watch with morbid satisfaction rather than excitement as the city is swallowed in ash.

Yet with flames falling from the sky and our hero galloping through the streets on horseback we get exactly what we were promised. Pompeii is a 3D action-adventure, and in that it succeeds just fine. There are a myriad of things a picky critic could find issue with in the film (the strange mix of accents, the typical black sidekick, the total lack of blood during the gladiator fights) but it’s a fruitless enterprise. A sword-and-sandal love story comes with expectation and pretension. A sword-and-sandal love story set under a volcano…what do you expect?

A short visit to Wikipedia will tell you all about the historical city of Pompeii. It’s a fascinating event in the world’s history, made all the more intriguing by the mystery that still surrounds it. Each petrified figure represents a story that will never be told, which is a shame, because their stories would no doubt be far more interesting than this film.

Reviewed by Evan Arppe.

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