If you take Russell Crowe’s Gladiator and put it under the shadow of a volcano, you have Pompeii, and a not-as-good version at that. Basically if you take all of the characters, make them more one-dimensional, you have this new movie. It even lifts one character right off the original (an African mentor-turned-friend to our reluctant gladiator). Having said all that, it’s not a terrible movie, though parts of you certainly make you roll your eyes.
The main character is played by Kit Harington, otherwise known as Jon Snow from the Game of Thrones series. If you’ve seen that show, you know this guy’s acting chops consist mostly of pained, longing stares with that almost always far-away look in his eyes. The Joaquin Phoenix role in Gladiator is played here by Keifer Sutherland. As much as I liked 24, he’s no Joaquin, who I consider one of the finest actors today. What keeps this movie together though is the historic blowing of Mount Vesuvius. Though the CGI isn’t as good as some other high budget films, and doesn’t look quite as real as it should at times, it is very exciting, especially in the end when everything goes to hell.
Like a lot of action films, if you just take this film light heartedly, it is fun. Younger audiences that only care about explosions and death duels should really enjoy it (my 16 year old son loved it!).
Jons Movie Takes 