Pompeii (PG-13): Enjoyable Eye Candy

It's pretty much impossible to say that "Pompeii" is a flawless film. It's love story is cliched and and its lighting at times leaves much to be desired. On the other hand, I believe the term "guilty pleasure" fits perfectly here, as I certainly enjoyed this movie enough to recommend it. 

"Pompeii" tells the story of the legendary natural disaster that covered the Italian city of Pompeii and its residents in ashes, preserving their bodies for eternity. Like "Titanic," "Pompeii" mixes in a star-crossed lovers story into the disaster genre. Following the rich-girl-loves-poor-boy trope, a wealthy woman named Cassia (played by Emily Browning of "Sucker Punch") falls in love with an enslaved gladiator named Milo (played by Kit Harrington of "Game of Thrones"). When Pompeii’s volcano erupts, it is up to Milo to save Cassia from being left to die in the eruption (there is more to the story but I don’t want to give anything away).

Admittedly, the love story is by far less convincing than the one in Titanic. The two leads Cassia  and Milo spend a bare minimum of time getting to know each other and their relationship lacks development. However, in a disaster movie that focuses more on providing audience-pleasing thrills, this is much less of a problem than it could have been.

On the contrary, Milo's relationship with a fellow slave named Atticus (played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje of "Thor: The Dark World") is surprisingly well developed throughout the film. In the first act, Milo learns that he must face Atticus, a man who has been promised freedom after one more battle. Several scenes of dialogue in a prison cell and action in the arena they are forced to fight in give the audience a good feel for who these characters are and give a good enough reason to root for them. Considering that this is a disaster movie made by Paul W.S. Anderson, both characters have a substantial amount of substance to them, and the actors give good enough performances to make their friendship believable. 

On the subject of Mr. Anderson, I have never really been a fan of his work. "The Three Musketeers" was mediocre at best and his "Resident Evil" movies are absolutely dreadful. Here he seems to have improved his ability to tell a story, though there are a few flaws here and there that carry over from his other works. Much like "Alien vs. Predator," Anderson struggles to properly light a few nighttime scenes, casting what could have been a great looking shot into 50% blackness. In addition, his editing can occasionally be choppy, but compared to something like "I, Frankenstein," it's nowhere near as jarring.  

To his credit, which I believe is often overlooked, Mr. Anderson certainly knows how to stage and take advantage of an action setpiece. One scene involving gladiators fighting soldiers chained to a spiked pillar made full use of its environment, and will likely have audiences entertained. Something else worth nothing are the special effects; they are very well done and it is clear that the VFX team put a lot of effort into bringing the legendary eruption of Mt. Vesuvias to the big screen. What's even better is the 3D; lately 3D has been sorely mediocre in Hollywood films, but in this case it is very effective. From volcanic ashes to falling beams of wood, "Pompeii" succeeds in taking full advantage of the 3D technology with stunning results. 

             The last act of the film is among one of the most thrilling disaster scenes I have ever scene in recent years. Fans of disaster movies will likely be pleased by all of the mindless carnage and destruction, and like "2012," the visual grandeur is seat-grippingly epic.

"Pompeii" is nowhere near a high-quality film, nor is it free from typical Hollywood cliches. However, this was not a film that left me feeling insulted or just jaded. Rather, this was actually a memorable disaster/action period piece that I could easily recommend taking some friends to see. The experience alone is pretty damn cool. 

Final Rating: B-

Top Five Most (and least) Hyped Spring Films

Ah yes, the springtime movie season of March and April; a time where studios warm up audiences for the big releases of summer. As opposed to last year where we were stuck with duds like "The Host," "Temptation" and "G.I. Joe 2," this year there are actually quite a few spring movies worth looking forward to. Of course there are some duds coming out too, but we'll get to those later. Here are my top five hyped springtime movies.

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Top 5 Most Hyped Spring Movies

5. Muppets Most Wanted

In 2011, Jason Seigel succeeded in his ambition to bring the Muppets to the public eye after several mediocre television movies and specials. Last Thanksgiving, the popularity of the Muppets took a hit from the ratings dud: "Lady Gaga & The Muppets' Holiday Spectacular." Hopefully, the latter won't negatively affect this film. This time around, it looks to be another blast to the past with the pop culture jokes and celebrity cameos that the Muppets got their start on. "Muppets Most Wanted" looks to be a whole-heated effort from a committed fun-loving cast and crew.

4. Divergent

Coming off of the success of the hit novel, "Divergent" could easily be another interesting entry in the dystopian and young adult sub-genres. What makes this movie more appealing is the fact that its star: Shailene Woodley is not dolled up in revealing outfits or tons of makeup (this does not pertain to the poster -seen above- which puts a strange emphasis on her skin-tight pants). This makes her outcasted, revolutionary character seem more believable and nowhere near the shallow mary-sue type character it could have been. With an appealing story of a world controlled by an aptitude test and a guaranteed visual flare, "Divergent" could very well be another early-year hit. I'll certainly check it out when it hits theaters.

3. Transcendence

Christopher Nolan's production company strikes back with a unique sci-fi film about a man brought back to life with a web-based computer system, practically downloading his brain to the internet. Besides the obvious visual eye candy, "Transcendence" seems to offer an interesting tale from a fresh-on-the-scene writing/directing. Even more appealing is the fact that the director has had plenty of experience as a cinematographer, serving as the photography director for films like the Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception. The film has the possibility of being a disappointment, but given the talent behind it (including Johnny Depp in a performance that could be a comeback after "The Lone Ranger"), "Transcendence" looks to at least be an enjoyable day at the movies.

2.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I personally found the first "Captain America" to be one of the best Marvel films. Though this film will lack the retro-50s flare of the first, it looks to be just as entertaining with thrilling set pieces and an overall sense of grandeur. This time around, Black Widow (among my favorite Marvel characters) joins the ride and Scarlett Johansson is guaranteed to put bums in the seats. That and a menacing-looking villain could very well make this another smash hit by Marvel. Even if you thought "Thor: The Dark World" was an underwhelming disappointment, it seems pretty hard to pass up a film like this, especially with "The Avengers 2" scheduled for 2015.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel

Love him or hate him, Wes Anderson is an undeniably unique and colorful film maker. I for one absolutely love his films, and his love for symmetry and colorful eloquence looks to shine again in his next film. It is odd that the studio decided to release this film in March; after the triumphant "Moonrise Kingdom," one would thing that a film like this would be put in November for an Oscar campaign. On the bright side, a film like this so early in the year very much subverts the trope that early-year movies are of poor quality. With a massive but tasteful ensemble cast and a gleeful color palate, I'm marking my calendar for a 2 hour trip to Budapest this March.

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And now, because I want to pad out this post, here comes the top 5 least hyped films of March/April of 2014.

Top 5 Least Hyped Spring Movies

5. Need for Speed

Clearly somebody wants to capitalize on the massive success of the Fast and Furious movies. While those films have strayed away from street racing in favor of an action/heist style to widen audiences, this film looks to bring street racing back to the forefront. While I do give the film credit for trying to bring car culture back to the forefront, the film itself still looks forgettable. As most films based on video games, this strays far from the plotline of the series and simply seems to have the name "Need for Speed" to attract fans of the game. Though it is partially written by Academy Award-nominated writer John Gatins, what I've seen so far is less than appealing, with dialogue that tries too hard to be epic and a brooding tone that doesn't match the high-octane thrills the film promises to provide. There is a possibility that it could be a fun little joyride, and I will give it a chance when it arrives. Considering the history of attempted video-game based films though, that is unlikely.

4. The Single Moms Club

Tyler Perry has not been doing well lately. With critical duds like Temptation and A Madea Christmas (the latter under-performing significantly), "The Single Moms Club" looks to be another attempt to appeal to a fixed audience that contains an uneven tone of broad humor and dismal melodrama. Considering that "A Madea Christmas," alternated scenes of Madea "humorously" tying a bratty child to a cross with serious scenes of child abuse, this movie looks to do the same. It's unfortunate that Tyler Perry keeps cranking out movies like these when he could make competent films like "For Colored Girls" and "I Can Do Bad all by Myself." He's not even that bad of an actor. This film, while not looking nearly as bad as "Temptation," does nothing to grab my interest.

3. 300: Rise of an Empire 

Zack Snyder does not come across as a good writer. "Sucker Punch" pretty much proved that he pays little attention to the story and tries to waddle his way out of writing something decent with incoherent attempts at being artsy. To be honest, I wasn't really a fan of the original "300." It had its moments, but it came across as a monochromatic, overacted action movie that didn't know whether to be serious or silly. This looks to copy that, adding nothing more than a rehash of the same slow-motion effects and bloody but  forgettable fight scenes. What's more troubling is the fact that this film serves as a prequel, a sequel, and even a midquel to the original "300." This pretty much guarantees that the film will be a mangled up mess of plotlines and
shallow characters.

2. A Haunted House 2

Apparently "Scary Movie 5" was so bad, that people thought that the original "A Haunted House" was a masterpiece and asked for a sequel. While it was indeed superior, "A Haunted House" was still a painful display of mugging by Marlon Wayans and a slop of racial stereotypes and lazy slapstick. "A Haunted House 2" will repeat this indeed, and unless you are a fan of the first one, it will be the ultimate movie to skip this March.

1. The Other Woman

A rehash of the film "John Tucker Must Die," "The Other Woman" sees a group of women trying to get revenge on a man that cheated on all of them. From what I've seen so far, this looks like nothing more than a bland buddy comedy with unlikable, immature characters much like the abysmal "Bride Wars." I could also mention that this will include the fearful acting debut of Nicki Minaj, but I'm betting that it will be an overblown cameo that is not worth mentioning. Cameron Diaz is far from a bad actress, but she needs to be more selective and pick something that does not look as forgettable as this.

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On a closing note, I'd like to add that my review of The Lego Movie will be up soon, as I plan on re-watching it in the near-future.

Quick-Write: No Lego Review This Week

          I did indeed see The Lego Movie last weekend, however I did not review it. Why? Because I couldn't grade it fairly. You see, I went into the movie expecting a fun-filled and giddy adventure with plenty of action setpieces and humor. While this is true for the first two acts of the film, the final act takes an emotional and somewhat downbeat turn that I did not expect. I cannot spoil it but I can say that there is an emotional plot twist that confused me. Emotion is the last thing I expected out of a film like this, so I at first thought it was a total tone-shifter and did not belong in the movie. However, at the same time, there is nothing wrong with a movie having emotion.

         Just look at Toy Story 3, the whole movie is full of emotional scenes and downbeat moments mixed in with the jokes. However, upon first viewing, I loved it and found nothing off about it. That was likely because I expected it from a trilogy-ending Pixar movie. For a movie about toys, I did not expect Lego to have ANY emotional scenes, but that is not a problem with the film. Therefore, I need to view The Lego Movie again with proper expectations so that I can fairly grade it.