Pompeii (2014) Biography, Plot, Production, Box office, Trailer.

Pompeii (2014)

Pompeii is a 2014 epic romantic and historical disaster film produced and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. An international co-production between the United States, Germany and Canada, it is inspired by and based on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. that destroyed Pompeii, a city of the Roman Empire. The film stars Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas, with Jared Harris, and Kiefer Sutherland. Pompeii premiered in France, Belgium, and Russia on February 19, 2014, and was released over the course of the next day in Argentina, Greece, Hungary, Italy and later in the United States and Canada on February 21, 2014. This is FilmDistrict’s last film before it merged with Focus Features.

Plot.

In northern Britannia, 62 AD, a tribe of Celtic horsemen is brutally wiped out by Romans led by Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland). The only survivor, a boy named Milo, whose parents Corvus personally killed, is captured by slave traders. Seventeen years later, in Londinium in 79 A.D., slave owner Graecus (Joe Pingue) watches a class of gladiators battle, unimpressed until he sees the grown Milo (Kit Harington), a talented gladiator the crowds call “the Celt”. Milo is soon brought to Pompeii with his fellow slaves. On the road, they see a horse fall while drawing a carriage carrying Cassia (Emily Browning), returning after a year in Rome, and her servant Ariadne (Jessica Lucas). Milo kills the horse to end its suffering, and Cassia is drawn to him. Cassia is the daughter of the city governor Severus (Jared Harris) and his wife Aurelia (Carrie-Anne Moss). Severus is hoping to have the new Emperor Titus invest in plans to rebuild Pompeii, despite Cassia’s warning of Rome becoming more corrupt. Felix (Dalmar Abuzeid), a servant, takes Cassia’s horse Vires for a ride only to be swallowed up when a quake from Mount Vesuvius opens up the ground under him.

In Pompeii, Milo develops a rivalry with Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a champion gladiator who, by Roman law, will be given his freedom after he earns one more victory. The gladiators are shown off at a party where Corvus, now a Senator, tells Severus the Emperor will not invest in his plans but he himself will. It is revealed Cassia left Rome to escape Corvus’s advances. When an earthquake causes some horses to become anxious, Milo helps calm one down. He then takes Cassia on a ride and tells her they cannot be together. Returning to the villa, Corvus is ready to kill Milo (not recognizing him from the village massacre), but Cassia pleads for Milo’s life. Milo is lashed for his actions, and Atticus admits respect for his rival as they prepare to face each other at the upcoming festival. In the Amphitheatre of Pompeii, to punish Milo, Corvus orders him killed in the first battle, and wicked trainer Bellator (Currie Graham) convinces Graecus to sacrifice Atticus, as well. The two men, and other gladiators, are chained to rocks as other gladiators come out as Roman soldiers, to recreate Corvus’ victory over the Celts.

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Working together, Milo and Atticus survive the battle; Atticus realizes the Romans will never honor his freedom. During the battle, Corvus forces Cassia to agree to marry him by threatening to have her family killed for supposed treason against the Emperor. When Milo and Atticus win, Cassia defies Corvus by holding a “thumbs-up” for them to live, and Corvus has her taken to the villa to be locked up. Claiming an earthquake is a sign from Vulcan, Corvus has his officer Proculus (Sasha Roiz) fight Milo one-on-one. Their battle is interrupted when Mount Vesuvius erupts, creating massive tremors that cause the arena to collapse, sending Milo and Proculus crashing to the dungeons. Milo opens up the gates to allow his fellow gladiators a chance to attack; Proculus escapes, while the gladiators kill Bellator. Seeing Corvus fallen under a collapsed beam, Severus tries to kill him, but Corvus stabs him and escapes.

Production.

The film was shot in Toronto, Ontario, from March to July 2013, primarily at Cinespace Film Studios’ Kipling Avenue facility. Constantin Film and Don Carmody Productions formerly selected Cinespace as a shooting locale for Resident Evil: Retribution and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Leading man Kit Harington underwent a gruelling training regimen for the film in order to bulk up for the role. Harington stated he had “wanted to do a body transformation for something—it was one of those processes that I had never really done before … I became obsessed with it. To the point where I was going to the gym three times a day for six days a week. I was becoming exhausted.

So the trainer stepped in and said, ‘Look, you don’t need to go through all of this. This is body dysmorphia now.” Pompeii was the fourth time that director Anderson used 3D cameras in his films, the first being Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010. Resident Evil producers Jeremy Bolt and Don Carmody reunited with Anderson for the film. FilmDistrict bought the distribution rights in the US, and because of Sony’s relationship with the filmmakers, they chose to release the film with TriStar Pictures. Summit Entertainment, who released Anderson’s The Three Musketeers, handled distribution sales outside of Germany and the US (through Lionsgate).

Box office.

Pompeii grossed ten million in its opening weekend, finishing in third, against strong competition from The Lego Movie. As of June 30, 2014, the film has grossed $23.2 million in North America and $78.6 in other territories for a worldwide total of $117.8 million. The film won the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s Golden Screen Award for 2014 as the year’s top-grossing Canadian film.

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Critical response.

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 27% score based on 162 reviews, with an average rating of 4.36 out of 10. The site’s consensus reads, “This big-budget sword-and-sandal adventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure.” On Metacritic, the film has an aggregate score of 39 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating “generally unfavorable reviews”. Audiences polled by the market research firm CinemaScore gave an average grade of “B” on an A+ to F scale.