Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Billy Wonka (A) on February 22, 2014 at 12:44:37

Limburger on celluloid. I expected more bristling pecks as in TV Spartacus but it was not to be. The arena blood lettings had a surprising lack of blood for all the slashing and stabbing that took place. This B-tier cast (Sutherland, Jared Harris, Carrie-Anne Moss, et al) walked through this as supporting cast to the CGI holocaust that couldn't happen soon enough. Once Vesuvius awoke things shifted from gladiators, Roman politics, and slave-aristo love to get-the-hell-out-of-Dodge with sword fights. The pyrotechnics were formulated for 3D and the actual combat-escape through the avenues showed Pompeii to be as large as Rome...a noticeable exaggeration.

The CGI was nice with a few flaws but the power of the event just wasn't emotionally conveyed as it could have been with a larger budget. You could add it to your guiltiest of guilty pleasure list via DVD.