Pompeii

All the cliched elements you see in these Greek warrior backdrop movies is there in the latest film from the Resident Evil director Paul W. S. Anderson. But there is a gradual increase in energy level with the help of some stunning set pieces which makes Pompeii an overall entertainer.

Its basically a revenge and resistance theme that has both personal revenge and a resistance against a mighty roman power which tries to control Pompeii. Milo is our central protagonist who lost his faction in the childhood itself through the cruel deeds of Corvus and his Roman soldiers. Years later the slave Milo is brought to Pompeii and Senator Corvus was also there for some financial purposes regarding the renewal of whole of Pompeii. The following drama that has romance, revenge, team work, crookedness and ultimately ending in the sacrificial victory of the minority is what this mythological movie talking about.

Many sequences in the beginning portion of the film reminded me of the recently released Hercules. The pattern they set to introduce the character and a few more things somewhere looked similar. But as the story moves the give and take between the characters increases and it helps the film in getting some of that “sacrifice” feel in those climax chaos that has volcano explosions and sword fights. The romance that comes in between all these is a bit swift but there is something in the look and expressions of Cassia which takes it to a believable level.  The last 30-40 minutes of the movie is totally engaging with quality visual effects and impressive stunt choreography.

Director Anderson was able to engage his viewers mainly in the second half of the run time. The script hasn’t given much emphasis to the dark side of roman emperor which I believe has lessened the heat of that revolution tone of the movie. Dialogues were okay and the cinematography was really nice. As I already said the visual effects were pretty good and the BGM was fitting.

In the performance side Kit Harington hasn’t done anything extraordinary to make Milo a memorable character. Two actors who impressed me the most were Emily Browning as Cassia and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Atticus. Rest of the cast were fine in their respective roles.

So Pompeii is a watchable entertainer. Predictable elements are there in the screenplay but the conclusion of the movie was on a higher knot which has the quality quotient to keep you happy. The rating is 3/5 for this visually superb film.