Pompeii was a redbox movie if I have ever seen one, but I actually enjoyed watching it at the same time. Rotten tomatoes gave it a 28%, but I probably would have given it something a little higher than that. In effect, it was a discount Gladiator with a more expensive Dante's Peak ending. I went from thinking it was lame, to actually thinking it was really cool, back to thinking it was kind of lame. However, the effects were pretty cool: awesome volcano scenes, cool gladiator fighting scenes, and some serious tough guy action. And, after looking up factual things about Pompeii, I actually liked it more, because more things actually happened than I thought. For its plot, I feel like it pulled a Titanic, in that the writers chose a horrific event from the past as the backdrop, and wove in a plot with a love story in the foreground.
My biggest complaint was Keifer Sutherland. He is in all ways Jack Bauer now. It is very hard to take him seriously as an evil Roman Senator trying to do some type of English accent...when the whole time you just want to see him yelling, "Do it now Chloe!" while carrying a cool black sidebag and a gun.
All in all, to me, this actually was better than the critics give it credit for, and it is worth a dollar at redbox. Maybe not worth 3 dollars at a discount theater. Definitely not worth full price at the movie theater. But probably worth more than seeing it for free. You know what, maybe just wait for a friend to rent it.
