Pompeii (2014)

[CJohn]

Discuss!

[Hiccup]

Enjoyed it and the visuals are great but story is mediocre. Too bad it flopped because it deserves more. 

 

 

6.5/10

[thunder storm]

Good movie. The visuals effects are awesome. Better than The Lone Ranger ( Oscar nominee ). Who cares about the story? I watched the movie only for special effects. And they were amazing. 

[baumer]

Not only the best film I've seen this year but this would make my top ten in pretty much every year.  This took elements of Gladiator and every disaster movie and put them in here and it works.  The script is a little weak at times but that's a small complaint.  From what I've read from people who complain about the film, they say it's full of cliches.  What film isn't cliched?  In this movie, the cliches work.  The story is beautifully told as a race against time.  We all know that the volcano erupts and decimates the city and all throughout the film the director uses really well timed reminders to let us know of the impending doom.  We see rivers boil, the ground rumbles from time to time and slaves and other people look on with worry.  All the while, we are invested in the story of Milo, Atticus and Cassia.  Milo is the slave who defies the politicians and the kingdom, all the while looking for revenge against those who slaughtered his family when he was a boy. 

 

The screenplay is well done and the gladiator scenes are exciting.  Kiefer Sutherland is terrific as the main asshole, a role he has perfected over the years.  Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is also terrific as the slave who Milo is first rivals with but then develops a bond with.  His death in the film is fantastic and really quite emotional.  I know you guys aren't going to believe me but when he kills the secondary bad guy, there were some claps and cheers in the audience.  And the end of the movie brought a lump to my throat.

 

I would put this almost on par with Gladiator.  It's that good in my opinion.

 

9/10

[RobinHood26]

 

 

I would put this almost on par with Gladiator.  It's that good in my opinion.

 

9/10

 

No surprise here. 

[Michael Gary Scott]

Lol im not surprised either

[baumer]

I loved Gladiator.  If you guys are saying you're not surpirsed I liked it because my taste sucks or something, then see the movie first.  It really surprised me.  I didn't think I would like it at all.

[cozmeesah]

I haven't seen it yet, baumer, but I had a feeling you'd like it. Not because your taste sucks, but because I always thought this would be in the same vein as Dante's Peak/Armageddon/etc. Maybe not "great" movies in the academic sense or original at all, but entertaining as hell. And you love those. (So do I, lol)

[baumer]

Yep, I loved Dante's Peak and Volcano.  

[Jessie]

Baumers reviews has actually sold me on watching this. I also loved Dantes Peak (i was young) and Armageddon lol.

[baumer]

Imo, it takes all the best elements of Gladiator, Twister, Armageddon, Dante's Peak, 2012 and all the rest and uses that to its advantage.  And as I said, it gets kind of emotional at the end.  I'm a sucker for emotion, maybe more than the next guy, but this got to me.

[Deep Wang]

Oh B!  What the hell?!

 

I understand you loved Gladiator and Titanic.  That is why I'm so surprised you love this too.  

 

It isn't just filled with cliches, it lifts things wholesale from those two, far superior movies!

 

This is taken from Goldberg's review on Collider and it sums up this problem very well:

 

In 79 A.D., a volcano erupted near Pompeii, wiping out all the inhabitants, but the ash managed to preserve the bodies and create a haunting tableau of the city’s final moments.  The film’s story begins 17 years early as a young Milo (Dylan Schombing) witnesses his family and fellow Celts cut down by a platoon of Roman soldiers led by the sneering Cal/Commodus Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland).  Fast forward to 79 A.D. and now Jack/Maximus Milo (Kit Harington) is a gladiator who mercilessly, unenthusiastically, and easily kills his opponents.  He’s sent to the resort city of Pompeii where he’s matched against fellow and honorable gladiator Juba Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and falls for the wealthy, kind, and beautiful Rose Cassia (Emily Browning).  However, Corvus is now a senator who wants to marry Cassia, Atticus is on the verge of earning his freedom, and Milo wants revenge against the man who murdered his people.  Everyone’s plans go to shit when Mt. Vesuvius erupts and rains hell down on the city.

Read more at http://collider.com/pompeii-review/#eWdu5RweW2I9LwM3.99

 

 

 

Not only that but the "romance" was flat-out terrible!  They had like what 4 scenes together?  Milo and Atticus had a far more believable friendship because we actually got to see them interact.  

[baumer]

I disagree 100% with everything u just said Rallax

[CaptainJackSparrow]

I really want to see this, besides, this isn't a critic movie anyway. I also love the Gladiator comparison.

[Deep Wang]

I really want to see this, besides, this isn't a critic movie anyway. I also love the Gladiator comparison.

 

Again, it's not so much a comparison, but a copy-paste job.

[baumer]

And Gladiator borrowed elements from Spartacus.

 

It's what you do with your movie that counts, not where you draw your inspiration from.

 

I was engaged the entire time with the movie.  I recognized the films it borrowed from and that didn't stop me from enjoying it one bit.

[Films]

I actually want to see this but its fucking typical they've delayed it till may here

[grim22]

 

Oh B!  What the hell?!

 

I understand you loved Gladiator and Titanic.  That is why I'm so surprised you love this too.  

 

It isn't just filled with cliches, it lifts things wholesale from those two, far superior movies!

 

This is taken from Goldberg's review on Collider and it sums up this problem very well:

 

 

 

Not only that but the "romance" was flat-out terrible!  They had like what 4 scenes together?  Milo and Atticus had a far more believable friendship because we actually got to see them interact.  

 

 

I agree with Rallax on the love story and the main plot being very weak. The effects on the other hand are awesome.

 

The scene where the slaves have to reenact a famous loss and then end up winning, and the reaction that "This isn't how the fight went" was directly out of Gladiator. 

[baumer]

I guess the homages didn't bother me at all.  It's interesting to me how some films will be hated on by the public because they look cliched and yet others will be loved even though they too are cliched.  Every film borrows from other films.  

 

Oh well.  I enjoyed it.  Shame others didn't.

[Deep Wang]

I agree with Rallax on the love story and the main plot being very weak. The effects on the other hand are awesome.

 

The scene where the slaves have to reenact a famous loss and then end up winning, and the reaction that "This isn't how the fight went" was directly out of Gladiator. 

 

There's even a scene straight out of Titanic with boats trying to leave and there is plenty of room for other people but they leave before filling up!