The writing has been on the wall for months here, but Paul W.S. Anderson's epic Pompeii hits US cinemas in less than 3 weeks, despite there being a relatively scaled-back, minimal marketing campaign, except of course for these massively expensive ($4 million for 30 seconds) Super Bowl commercials. Anderson doesn't have a great track record with critics, but his Resident Evil films have reliably turned great profits, and the film's producers will no doubt be hoping that the factual basis of the story and its epic nature will make it a box office smash. Except, for a movie about a city essentially being buried by a volcano, doesn't this look a little, well, boring? It's just artless, dull CGI layered thick over what mostly appears to be laughable dialogue and dodgy costumes. Though it boasts likeable actors such as Kiefer Sutherland and Jared Harris, they appear to be mostly slumming it in what I expect won't just be a critical dud, but also probably a $100 million bomb.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
