‘Pompeii’ review
By Steven Cayer, Senior Columnist
3/5
The city of Pompeii is mostly known for being utterly destroyed by Mount Vesuvius way back in 79 AD. Nowadays, it’s known for being destroyed by director Paul W.S. Anderson in his new movie Pompeii.
Knowing what Anderson’s previous track record was, I held hope that this movie would be good—though I also had pretty low expectations. I was averagely pleased with the outcome.
A young boy named Milo is the only survivor of a vicious attack on his tribe of Celtic horsemen. Later caught off-guard, he is then caught and traded as a slave. Seventeen years later, he grows up to be a gladiator just trying to survive (played by Kit Harington). As he gets transferred to Pompeii, he meets Cassia (Emily Browning), who’s on her way to Pompeii when her carriage gets stuck and her horse falls down. She allows Milo to help her put the horse out of its misery. You just know that sparks something in them both.
In Pompeii, an evil Roman senator (poorly played by Kiefer Sutherland) is causing all matters of grief to Cassia and her parents (Jared Harris and Carrie-Ann Moss). Then comes the volcano.
One thing I will say about this movie is that the special effects were pretty cool, especially in 3-D. The entire final third of the movie is just a series of special effects. The actors did the best they could with the script, except for Sutherland. I’m not even sure what kind of accent he was going for.
Overall, if you lower your expectations a fair bit, you may mildly enjoy Pompeii as I did.
