Set in 79 AD, the newly released film “Pompeii” follows a slew of characters as their city falls under the power of a volcano.
A Celt slave, Milo (Kit Harington, “Game of Thrones”), finds himself being brought to Pompeii to fight against gladiators in their arena, while Cassia (Emily Browning, “A Series of Unfortunate Events”), on the run from some bad experiences in Rome, hopes to find solace in her home city. The two fall in love just as the city begins to fall, first from Roman Empire threats, and then from the unrelenting power of the mountain.
Plotwise, “Pompeii” does not provide any fresh or exciting new stories. Like most forbidden romances in film, that of Milo and Cassia is generic. Neither of them face much discrimination for their love; Cassia’s mother, Aurelia (Carrie-Anne Moss, “The Matrix”), even supports it. The two have barely known each other for two days, relying purely on physical attraction to risk their lives for the other. A small revenge subplot is included, with Milo’s family being mercilessly slaughtered at the film’s beginning. As he rushes about Pompeii to save Cassia, he also faces off against the two leaders of the Celtic massacre: Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland, “24”) and Procolus (Sasha Roiz, “Grimm”).
In addition to the sparse plot, not much could be done with character development, which does not give many of the acclaimed actors much to work with. Both Cassia and Milo’s personalities are very bland, their only purpose in life seeming to be their love for each other. Their outside relationships with Ariadne (Jessica Lewis) and Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, “Lost”) respectively, are never entirely fleshed out. Cassia and Ariadne appear to be great friends, but as Ariadne is her servant, there must be a sense of duty over that of friendship. Atticus, on the other hand, who is a slave one fight away from freedom, must choose between escaping or helping his new friend Milo.
The main saving grace of this film is its cinematography and CGI. In the final scene of the film, Cassia and Milo embrace each other, flames bursting around them and a wash of ash descending upon the two. Though the rest of the film does not enrapture, the simple but elegant final shots are enough to strike a chord in the last minutes. The volcano’s special effects are absolutely fantastic, but it seemed as if the majority of the budget went towards that CGI, which neglected simple green screen work in earlier parts of the film. The sets are beautiful, but it is easy to see where the sets ended and computer graphics began.
The biggest flaw of “Pompeii,” though, lies not in acting or character development, but rather simply in the complete lack of historical accuracy. Most of the people of Pompeii realized what was occurring and escaped to safety, but the film depicts streets littered with bodies, with no movement at all. At one point in the film, Cassia and Milo appear to be the only people left alive, venturing down streets almost impenetrable by corpses. From the many excavations of Pompeii, only around two thousand bodies have been found, while it is estimated that almost 30 thousand people lived there. A simple Google search would have rendered more accuracy to this film.
“Pompeii” is a film of many flaws, but the pure and gorgeous scenes throughout could be reason enough to see the film. Sometimes it is not always necessarily the content that can prove to be the defining factor of a movie, as in this case. The final shot of Cassia and Milo together will stay with all viewers long after the credits have rolled.
