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Director Paul W. S. Anderson is known for his over-the-top action movies—from Mortal Kombat to Resident Evil to Death Race. With his outrageously excessive new thriller, Pompeii, he throws a little bit of romance into the mix. And the result is wildly entertaining—for all the wrong reasons.
Pompeii stars Kit Harington as Milo, a young gladiator who’s brought to the bustling city of Pompeii to fight in the arena. He catches the eye of Cassia (Emily Browning), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy businessman—and although he’s supposed to die for the people’s amusement and she’s supposed to marry a shady Roman Senator (Kiefer Sutherland), the two bond over their undying hatred of Rome, and they quickly fall in love. But with the city crumbling around them and Mount Vesuvius ready to erupt, they’ll have to fight to try to make it out alive.
Part disaster movie, part Gladiator, part Harlequin Romance, Pompeii seems to be trying to appeal to a wide audience with its extreme action and romantic melodrama. But nowhere in the film’s promotional materials will you see even the slightest mention of the film’s most prominent element: comedy. The humor, of course, is unintentional, but it’s often the best thing about the film. Kiefer Sutherland probably didn’t set out to make his character laughably sinister—and Anderson probably wasn’t trying to make audiences chuckle as they watch armies of extras dying in ridiculous ways—but the effect is the same. It’s simply impossible to take this over-the-top thriller seriously.
Meanwhile, though the movie promises death and destruction caused by an erupting volcano, the obliteration of Pompeii is really just an aside. The story is more about business and politics, the plight of gladiators in the Roman Empire, and, of course, forbidden love. The race to escape the falling ash and scorching lava and fiery rocks falling from the sky doesn’t really come into play until the final act. When it does, though, it’s certainly an enormous CGI sight to behold—and it’s every bit as big and noisy and catastrophic as you might expect.
As a result, there’s never a dull moment in this historical calamity. It’s filled with combat and scheming and long, meaningful glances. It’s also messy and ridiculous and absolutely perplexing. But, if nothing else, at least it’s awkwardly amusing.
Pompeii is not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it’s pretty terrible. Everything about it—from the writing to the performances—is completely overdone. But, that said, it’s still good for plenty of (unintentional) laughs. In fact, it’s probably funnier than most of the comedies you’ll see this year. So if you’re just in the mood for an entertaining night at the movies, this disastrous disaster movie definitely delivers.
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