Pompeii

When the love or motivation of the main characters is formed by a single bit of dialogue or a transparent situation, not even excellent casting can help. Kit Harington, Kiefer Sutherland, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje can work hard to bring some freshness to their stereotypical characters, but it only lasts until the script inserts another one-word confession into their mouths. After the highly entertaining The Three Musketeers, I expected Paul W.S. Anderson's next journey into history to be a perfect fit, but despite the fights, horses, destruction, or lava of Pompeii, it puts you to sleep more than it entertains you. (2014-06-17)

Despite the few flaws it has, I surprisingly enjoyed Pompeii very much. It was pulled up by a very likeable loving duo and impressive visual effects. The pacing is decent, there's something going on from the start, there's no shortage of fights that suffer from a lack of blood but still kept me interested and mayhem in the final 40 minutes was very well done by Paul W.S. Anderson. 70%. (2014-05-16)

I saw Hercules: The Legend Begins on the same day, and even though it's quite ridiculous, Hercules entertained me a bit more. Not by much, but still, one expected nothing and got nothing. In the case of Pompeii, the expectations may have been a little higher, but their fulfillment was not. A stupid romance bolted onto a disaster. Even if it is not in connection with a historical event, the effect will be the same. Only the explosion of Vesuvius is worth it. (2014-05-03)

A prequel to Gladiator with embarrassing sets, decent fights, especially considering that it’s PG-13, but there are too many references and similarities that are reproduced too clumsily to be nodded in agreement. The acting is basically nothing and the script is a big pile of pathos and a confusion of all the clichés. All that remains is solid visuals and that's it. (2014-09-07)

Although Paul W.S. Anderson has made a number of downright stupid films so far, most of them have at least entertained me in some way. Not Pompeii, though. The wait for the special effects frothing was extremely long, and when I got it, I felt that it should end again. I wasn't impressed with the central duo either, but Kiefer Sutherland was clearly having a good time. At least someone was, right? (2015-01-17)