Game of Thrones star Kit Harington packs on some serious muscle as
Milo, a Celtic slave held as a gladiatorial combatant by his Roman captors.
Flashbacks take us back to Milo's childhood, when his family and entire village
were wiped out by the evil senator Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland), filling the boy
with a lust for revenge. Now an adult, he's been sent to Pompeii where he'll
continue to serve and fight. But during the trek, he encounters the broken down
carriage of Cassia (Emily Browning), the daughter of Pompeii's head family
(Stephen Harris and Carrie-Anne Moss). Milo's soft features and humane treatment
of her injured horse melts Cassia's heart, but obviously any love between them
can never be due to their stations in life.
Just in time for Mt. Vesuvius to start rumbling, Corvus arrives in Pompeii
as an emissary of Emperor Titus. Looking to strike some sort of business deal,
he uses his position to try and worm his way back into Cassia's life after they
shared some sort of history back in Rome. Meanwhile, Milo becomes reluctant
friends with Atticus (Adewale Akkinnuoye-Agbaje), a champion gladiator
one victory away from freedom. It's all very Gladiator-lite up to this
point, but it's entertaining in a cheesy, predictable sort of way. And really,
it would work perfectly fine as such without the intrusion of the erupting
volcano, which arrives and renders literally everything we just watched as
meaningless.
Anderson shows surprising restraint for a good deal of the film, holding off
on many of the big set pieces until the lava starts flowing. There are a number
of solid sword clashes, in which Harington gets to show off his well-versed
combat skills from Game of Thrones, and despite the PG-13 rating they
are sufficiently brutal and bloody. Harington gets plenty of opportunity to
show off his glistening abs and glistening locks, although his romance with
Browning lacks any true spark. Once Vesuvius blows, Anderson gets to show off
the talent for visual effects spectacles he's always been known for. More than
lava threatens to destroy the city as Anderson hurls giant fireballs, rains
burning ash, and unleashes a deadly tsunami that would have Noah racing to
build another ark. These are captured in epic fashion, seen from up close and
afar to encapsulate the entirety of the devastation.If looked at merely as an action film, Pompeii has all the technical merits, rippling muscles, and chariot battles one could ask for, but as a romance it's something of a disaster itself.
Trav's Tip: For more on Pompeii, check out my interview with star Kit Harington.
