Pompeii

We have before us the first big-budget film of the year before that time has even arrived. Usually these type of films start minimally in latter April, but I guess the producer's of "Pompeii" wanted to jump the gun to possibly reap some of that 'dead zone' profits, which is very strategic indeed.

Set in 79 A.D., this tells the epic story of Milo (Kit Harrington), 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, Severus (Jared Harris) and his wife Aurelia (Carrie-Anne Moss) who has been unwillingly betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator, Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland). As mount Vesuvius Erupts in a torrent blazing lava, Milo must fight his way out of the arena with help of his friend, Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye- Agbaje) in order to save his beloved as the once magnificent Pompeii crumbles around him.

Others to round out the cast are Jessica Lucas as Ariadne, Joe Pingue as Graecus, Currie Graham as Bellator, Sasha Roiz as Proculus, Dylan Schombing as Young Milo, and Rebecca Eady as Milo's Mother.

This was directed with just the right amount of intensity, passion and action by veteran Paul W.S. Anderson ("Shopping" '94, "Mortal Kombat" '95, "Event Horizon" '97, "Soldier" '98, "Resident Evil" '02, "AVP: Alien vs. Predator" '04,  "Death Race" '08, "Resident Evil: Afterlife" '10, "The Three Musketeers" '11, "Resident Evil: Retribution" '12). I really don't think that this was anything that Anderson couldn't handle, hence the resume, so, at least, he knows which 'neighborhood' to gravitate toward. It was written by Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler, and Michael Robert Johnson. This story actually kept my attention which is something considering it was really made for the visual effects. It's similar to "Titanic" in that, even the story in that film kept your attention, it was actually made for the ship pure and simple. People love to see recreation of things once existed and then, because history dictates, see them destroyed. It's a, sort of, morbid curiosity we have. Speaking of visual effects, these were predominantly created by Mr. X, inc, and were absolutely seamless. The models were awesome!

The cast was adequate here, and the lead, Harrington, has gotten a lot of his acting chops from the TV series, "The Game of Thrones" which served him well. He wasn't great, but with more work, which he's already gotten, he could be the next action actor who possibly can actually act--who knew.

If you like great visuals and aren't really into an incredibly taught script, you will love this. It actually surprised me, because I thought that the story would have no substance amongst all the effects and I was wrong.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                        Rated: PG-13                           105mins.