For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by ancient civilizations. I could sit for hours on end and watch documentaries on ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, the Mayans, the Aztecs, etc. One ancient story which has always stuck out for me is the story of Pompeii. Pompeii is unique in that it's society was lost in an instant, yet preserved forever. I have heard Pompeii referred to as "the city frozen in time" and that may be the best way to describe it. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it rained down - quite literally - a fiery death for all those living in this ancient Roman city. Many centuries later, Pompeii would be rediscovered, and it's lost citizens would be preserved using plaster.
When I heard that there was going to be a movie made about Pompeii, I was excited.. My excitement soon left me, however, after I saw the movie trailer for Pompeii. From watching the trailer, I could tell that they were going to try and make a love story out of Pompeii; this was a revelation which should not have surprised me. My excitement for the movie quickly turned into disappointment, and I no longer had the desire to see the film. On a spur of the moment decision, and with really nothing better to do, I recently decided to watch it and give it a shot. I went in to the movie with low expectations, so as to not be disappointed by a terrible love story intertwined with an extremely interesting historical event.
Much to my surprise, I enjoyed Pompeii more than I was expecting to. The terribly predictable love story was there, but it was also a really great action movie. When Pompeii relied on the action sequences, they were done extremely well; when the film relied on actually telling a story, it was hit and miss. I thought the casting of the movie was well done, and all of the actors did a tremendous job - except one. Kiefer Sutherland was HORRIBLY miscast in this movie, and it wouldn't have been bad if he had only had a minor role. Unfortunately for the audience, Kiefer was cast as the main villain, Corvus; which meant he got A LOT more screen time than he should have.
Like I said previously, the story in this movie was hit and miss throughout the entire film. It was part Gladiator, part 2012 (or similar type disaster movies), and a little Horse Whisperer thrown in - seemingly for the hell of it. I'm trying not to give too much about the movie away, but it's an hour and 45 minutes long, and the Volcano erupts about an hour into the movie. So basically, for about the final 45 minutes of the movie, you have the storyline of the Mount Vesuvius erupting and the citizens of Pompeii trying to escape - all while the movie still tries to maintain the love story aspect. In the end, the storyline of this film was pretty much what I expected, but the action scenes elevated the movie to a higher level of enjoyment than I thought I would get out of it.
If the filmmakers had made this strictly an action movie instead of trying to add romance, I would have no problem recommending people to go see this film in theatres. In the end though, I would suggest you wait until this movie comes on Netflix, or becomes cheaply available on DVD/Blu Ray before watching it.
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