|
Review by Caitlyn Thompson |
Produced by Jeremy Bolt, Paul W. S. Anderson,
Robert Kulzer, Don Carmody
Screenplay by Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler,
Michael Robert Johnson
Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning,
Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje,
Jessica Lucas, Jared Harris, Kiefer Sutherland
Pompeii can best be understood as a pastiche, an un-ironic recombination of
Gladiator, 300, Game of Thrones and
Volcano.
The film is a compilation of every trope within the ancient/action/adventure genre.
Check list—sexy warrior slave with incredible abs that consistently glow with the perfect amount of sweat, skinny and defiant high class daughter, weakling parents, intimidating enemy turned BFF, blonde dictator and his scowling right hand man who is inexplicably unstoppable.
Cliché line.
Cliché response.
Our gladiator protagonist, Milo (Kit Harington –
GoT’s Jon Snow) is sent to Pompeii where he immediately catches the eye of the daughter of a rich politician, Cassia (Emily Browning). The love triangle is complete when the man who slaughtered Milo’s family and people, Senator Corvus rolls into town.
Of course, he also has a thing for Cassia.
The movie was a record on repeat.
Volcano explodes, people run and die, Harrington battles someone, skip, skip, start over.
Read more »