Film Preview: Pompeii (2014)

Poster

Additional posters can be found below.

Trailer Link

Release Date:

February 21, 2014

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A slave turned gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator. As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.”

Poster: C+ / D / D

Review: It’s colorful, but vacant. Establishes the volcano, but doesn’t make it seem menacing.

(#2 & #3) Trying to sell a hard body isn’t difficult, but trying to sell a film with a hard body is. The second poster doesn’t do anything but superimpose the second over the embracing couple form the first, increase the size of the background and brighten the entire design. That’s lazy design work and is unlikely to change the public’s impression of the film.

Trailer: D+ / C+

Review: Apart from the makers’ attempts to make this trailer design visually arresting, the utter lack of originality sets this up to be one of those films that will be easily and readily forgotten. Looking like a cross between Gladiator, the TV series Spartacus and 300, you might be better served catching those films and shows again rather than watching this.

A little more action heavy, but still unable to convey the reason the film exists in the first place. Setting romantic stories into historical events can work, but with a disaster like Pompeii, it just doesn’t make sense and the trailer does do a good job indicating how or why, though it does feature figures covered in soot. I guess that’s a good thing.

Oscar Prospects:

If this had been a serious film and not a cash grab, it might have been an Oscar contender. The February release assures us that it will be mostly forgotten by Oscar time regardless of how good the visual effects are.