Flash Movie Review: Pompeii
There are some things in life worth fighting for, metaphorically speaking. If I believe something is the right thing to do, I will argue the point without any time limit. I am willing to fight traffic if it means I get to spend quality time with a friend. (I bet you thought I was going to say a movie.) Love is certainly worth fighting for, wouldn’t you agree? There was someone I dated where I was wiling to make sacrifices or more accurately compromises because I felt it would help the relationship continue to grow. You may think it is silly, but one of my strongest self-imposed rules is my last meal cannot start later than 6pm, for dietary reasons. They liked eating at 8pm, feeling my time was too early. Luckily we both wanted to keep investing in our relationship so we negotiated times and made adjustments to help each other. In this situation it was worth it to me, to fight myself in the name of love. This fighting for love was one of the things I admired about this dramatic action film. Kit Harington (Games of Thrones-TV, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D) played Milo, who witnessed his parents’ death at a young age. Orphaned and alone he grew up a slave until he was old enough to become a gladiator. None of his fights meant anything to him until one day he saw Princess Cassia of Pompeii, played by Emily Browning (Sucker Punch, The Uninvited). I enjoy watching a movie that includes a historic setting or reenactment. It allows me to add a visual to what I have learned in school and books. Unfortunately the story for this film was pretty much a cheap knockoff of the movie Titanic, except there was fire instead of water. Kiefer Sutherland (Phone Booth, 24-TV) was forgettable as Corvus. I actually felt bad for Kit; with all the work he did to sculpt his body, he should have devoted some time to polishing his acting abilities for the big screen. He was one dimensional throughout the film. The only actor who did decent acting was Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Oz-TV) as fellow gladiator Atticus. I saw this film in 3D and it did nothing for me except cost me more money and made the picture look darker. The concept for this movie was silly to start with, add in the weak script and there really is no reason to fight your way to the movie theater to see this film. There were brief scenes that included blood.
1 2/3 stars
Posted on February 26, 2014, in Drama and tagged 1 2/3 stars, action, adewale akinnuoye-agbaje, adventure, drama, emily browning, kiefer sutherland, kit harington, pompeii, volcano. Bookmark the permalink. 25 Comments.
Darn, and it had such promise!
Tell me but look on the bright side: I saved you from suffering for 2 hours.
True, I was thinking about talking Hubby into seeing it, and now he doesn’t have a grudge to hold. LOL
lol, thanks for your comments and happy Oscar weekend.
Yes, right, the Oscars… LOL My daughter’s fifth birthday party is more on my radar screen. She’s having a fairy princess party. Lots of pretty dresses, just like the oscars.
The only difference is at your daughter’s 5th birthday party, everyone is a winner. Happy birthday to her and thank you for coming by again.
Thanks, I like your reviews. π
Nice review π
Thanks, I appreciate you telling me. Happy Oscar weekend to you and yours.
Thanks for warning us!
I am glad I could help. Thanks and happy Oscar weekend.
Wish you the same!
“with all the work he did to sculpt his body, he should have devoted some time to polishing his acting abilities for the big screen” Ha ha ha! Love it. This movie does look pretty cheesy.
I am glad you got a good laugh Alastair. Have a great Oscar weekend and as always thanks for your support and comments.
Like your reivew. I want to like this type of movie, but everything I’ve read about it is not favorable.
After I saw this film I read some reviews and yes, they were all saying how poorly made was this movie. Thanks for your comments.
Thanks for the warning, may still see it if only for the effects…which by the way how were they?
The effects were not good by today’s standards. If you still plan on seeing this film, see it at the 1st showing bargain price; you may be upset if you spend full price. Good luck and thanks for the comments.
thanks for the suggestion!
My pleasure, thank you for coming by to tell me.
Thanks for the review. The trailer seemed a bit cheesy, but I’m glad I read this before I went to the movies to see it.
I am glad I could help out; this is a definite pass. Thanks for coming by and leaving your comments.
I bet you can tell we’ve been on a renting spree, as I add several comments on reviews!
Well, yes, we did rent this one — mostly hoping for fun special effects. We were rewarded with ok special effects. But nothing else. Really weak story, and I must say I absolutely detested Keifer Sutherland in that role! Ugh! Loved the horse though. π
Well someone has been having a movie marathon at home. lol Thanks for all of your comments; I enjoy the delayed thoughts to previous reviews. It keeps me on my toes. lol
I watched this last night and I enjoyed the visuals, giving image to the stories I had heard as a child. The acting wasn’t very good and many of the characters came across as one dimensional.with a love story that seemed forced into place but I still enjoyed the action.
I know that I have mentioned all the moving parts in the big machine that is a hollywood movie before and it seems that much of the blame for the characters or lack thereof should go to the director, Paul W.S. Anderson. With such credits as Resident Evil and Alien vs. Predator, he has received about the same amount of directing credit as McG. or Michael Bay; big action with little character development. We know that Kit Harington can act when given proper direction through his work as Jon Snow on Game of Thrones but as is the case with many actors, if the director isn’t there to pull out and emphasize the emotion of the characters, they are left with a script and their interpretation of how the character should be played. A select few actors that have been in the business long enough no longer need that direction (Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman) but most need that extra hand holding to make them shine no matter what size screen they are on.