Pompeii (2014)
Average Rating: 4.5/10
Reviews Counted: 142
Fresh: 40 | Rotten: 102
This big-budget sword-and-sandal adventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure.
Average Rating: 4/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 21
This big-budget sword-and-sandal adventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 42,233
Movie Info
Set in 79 A.D., Pompeii tells the epic story of Milo (Kit Harington), a slave turned invincible gladiator who finds himself in a race against time to save his true love Cassia (Emily Browning), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy merchant who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts in a torrent of blazing lava, Milo must fight his way out of the arena in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him. -- (C) Sony
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Cast
-
Kit Harington
Milo -
Carrie-Anne Moss
Aurelia -
Emily Browning
Cassia -
Adewale Akinnuoye-Ag...
Atticus -
Jessica Lucas
Ariadne -
Jared Harris
Severus -
Kiefer Sutherland
Corvus -
Currie Graham
Bellator -
Sasha Roiz
Proculus -
Dylan Schombing
Young Milo -
Jean-Francois Lachap...
Milo's Father -
Rebecca Eady
Milo's Mother -
Jean Frenette
Boss Slaver -
Joe Pingue
Graecus -
Maxine Savaria
Biggest Thracian -
Ron Kennell
The Weasel -
Tom Bishop Sr.
Cassia's Carriage Dr... -
Dalmar Abuzeid
Felix -
Emmanuel Kabongo
African Gladiator -
Brock Johnson
Flashback Centurion -
Kristina Nicoll
Rich Wife #1 -
Janine Theriault
Rich Wife #2 -
Mark Whelan
Ship's Captain -
Anais Frenette
Harbour Child -
Donna Christo
Harbour Mother -
Thomas Stumpo
Harbour Boy
Latest News on Pompeii
May 22, 2014:
Parental Guidance: X-Men: Days of Future Past and Blended, Plus Pompeii and Vampire Academy on DVDThis week, Christy breaks down the comic fan-favorite X-Men: Days of Future Past and the fun comedy...
May 13, 2014:
Now Streaming: 24, Pompeii, Drunken Master and MoreThe biggest titles this week aren't the most acclaimed choices, unfortunately: we've got Paul W.S....
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Pompeii Videos & Photos
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All Critics (142) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (40) | Rotten (102) | DVD (2)
Is it wrong to root for the volcano?
Top CriticParmageddon is nigh in this cheesy action melodrama that feels both overheated with plot developments, yet strangely curdled from a lack of histrionics that might have redeemed it as fun trash.
Narrative has never been Anderson's strength; the story here is a corny overhaul of James Cameron's already-corny Titanic.
No matter how much lava is afoot, there's always time to impale one more person with a sword.
A mindless but watchable fondue pot of high-calorie visuals and ready-made plotting ...
More fun than any civilization's fiery extinction should ever be, Paul W.S. Anderson's Pompeii 3-D is gloriously exciting kitsch - a poor man's Titanic crossed with an even poorer man's Gladiator.
Rapidly burnt by a volcanically ludicrous story, Pompeii rumbles and crumbles, over-baking itself into a frothy crisp--puffery on the outside and clich�d passions within.
A rousing, crowd-pleasing noise-maker that delivers on what it promises.
The lava is the only thing that flows in this misfiring affair.
Rubbish, then, but laughable rubbish - often more "with it" than "at it".
If the violence and tragedy of Pompeii's destruction by a projectile vomiting Mount Vesuvius in 79AD is hard to imagine, harder still is a fan of Paul W.S. Anderson.
By positioning CGI, meticulously rendered with veritable 3D textures, inside elegant, spatial compositions, W.S distinguishes Pompeii amongst the current trend of garish blockbusters: obsessed with vapid, digitized carnage.
If you thought the famous eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD matters because of the mass destruction and the tragic loss of thousands of lives then think again.
It's not just the ancient Roman city that gets burned to the ground here - careers are also convincingly incinerated by Paul WS Anderson's pitiful excuse for a historical disaster movie.
Absolute nonsense, highly entertaining (on certain camp levels) - and never boring.
Browning, while indubitably beautiful, can't act very well. She sounds like a varsity netball player after a heavy defeat.
It's all preposterously enjoyable, far more so than those impervious superheroes chucking each other about yet again.
Like an ancient Roman version of 2012, this disaster epic is a pure guilty pleasure, sparking plenty of laughter along with the massive effects-based carnage.
Lifts shamelessly from Gladiator and Titanic, yet without an ounce of conviction or genuine feeling, the picture is oddly bereft of suspense but I think I know why. It's because we couldn't care less.
Undoubtedly watchable.
Finally, Mount Vesuvius erupts in a fury, possibly in response to the dialogue it has been forced to hear, and all of Pompeii resembles an explosion in a crematorium.
Thankfully, with its hokily enjoyable mix of sword-swinging heroics and CG pandemonium, Pompeii doesn't blow it.
Better than it had any right to be.
Instantly forgettable but more than passable as a diversion; solid B-movie cheese that's like Titanic-lite meets Gladiator-lite.
Anderson goes to town with his recreation of Pompeii... and then he unleashes a tsunami of dramatic clich�s and a lava stream of cheesy dialogue that lay waste to everything in their paths.
Apart from the half-baked script, Harington and Browning don't generate enough fire between them and after the curtain falls, the only question that stirs in your gut is: Pepperoni, or plain...?
Audience Reviews for Pompeii
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Cassia: Now, I don't know, I don't know where I'm a gonna go when the volcano blow.
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Foreign Titles
- Pomp�i (FR)
- Pompeya (ES)
