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Pompeii backdrop

Pompeii

21 February 2014English1h 45m
out of 10
Mixedlukewarm or divided
Monk Score · 8 scored reviews · 2 not rated

Volcanic spectacle impresses, but thin characters and script hold it back.

Verdict tier Mixed, lukewarm or divided, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.

  • Praised: grand 3D visual spectacle
  • Criticised: weak script and bland characters

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Critic consensus

What 10 critics are saying

Critical reception for Pompeii leans negative, with most reviewers finding the film to be a shallow, visually driven spectacle let down by a weak script and bland characters. Where praise exists, it centers on the 3D visual effects, the recreated volcanic eruption sequences, and the grand production scale. Common criticisms include a forgettable and cheesy love story, lackluster performances, and a narrative that fails to generate genuine interest. A few reviewers found modest enjoyment in its disaster-movie spectacle, but the majority considered it formulaic and underdeveloped.

How the 8 scores spread

2 not-rated reviews aren't plotted

Positive / mixed / negative reviews

Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10

AI-generated summary of 10 critic reviews · may contain errors

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From the papers

Critic reviews (10)

Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated

  1. Top critic

    Mid-Day

    Film review ·

    Pompeii is just like Anderson's films of the past ten years – aggressively stupid, full of CGI and bland characters, with a script that is somehow neither interesting nor laughably bad. It's something akin to Gladiator meeting a Roland Emmerich movie, with a dash of Anderson's trademark lack of subtlety and inability to craft good action sequences.
  2. IBNLive

    Film review ·

    The script by Janet Scott Batchler, Lee Batchler and Michael Robert Johnson, is crisp and focused. The tension is carefully and precisely mounted to construct the doomsday effect. Though the event is predictable, the look and feel of Glen MacPherson's visuals in 3D is enchanting. They beautifully merge with computer generated special effects of the volcanic eruption, the tsunami and the submerging of the land. The film is worth a watch for being a grand visual spectacle.
  3. Times Of India

    Film review ·

    The love story itself is forgettable and cheesy. But that is only incidental compared to what you can watch this movie for - its fight scenes and cataclysmic climax, both produced and recreated in good detail.
  4. The W14

    Film review ·

    ...the dormant volcano Vesuvius has the last say and Pompeii (remember The Last Days Of Ponpeii, starring Steve Reeves?) and history is well captured. Maybe the revival of those 1950s classics like Quo Vadis and Ben Hur give it an edge over the more weighty Monuments Men. Well, that's where Einstein's theory of relativity comes in!
  5. BookMyShow

    Film review ·

    From a die-hard situation to an utterly-butterly melodrama, Pompeii ended in most cheesiest way ever possible. The final scene where Milo and Cassia strikes a pose can put Disney movies to shame.
  6. The Navhind Times

    Film review ·

    You don't go to a movie with a lot of expectations from the director of the Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil franchise. It helps because Pompeii is one of those run of mill films that involves slaves, kings, Romans, special effects and a natural disaster. The story is lackluster and to add to it, the performances are no great shakes either.
  7. Rediff

    Film review ·

    Pompeii is one of those rare films for which I am glad that a 3D format was used. If cheesy, overdone, masala flicks are your kind of fare, this is your kind of film. For the rest of us, Pompeii just blows.
  8. Firstpost

    Film review ·

    Pompeii is a disaster movie, so it's not as though anyone should expect much by way of logic or narrative, but you do expect some spectacles.
  9. The Free Press Journal

    Film review ·

    Anderson's film is engrossing with the tension building steadily, from the opening sequence's Roman massacre of a Celtic rebellion in Londinium, Brittany through the emotional drama of the star-crossed, wracked by the longing for freedom and love, before the fury of the volcanic Vesuvius explodes upon all, free citizenry, gladiators and slaves.

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