Kit Harington has seen his star rocket in recent years, thanks to his role as Jon Snow in hit television series Game of Thrones and this year he landed his first major lead role in blockbuster Pompeii. Sadly, it was not the hit that the actor was hoping for, and it has made it into our Worst Movies of 2014 countdown at number seven.
Pompeii
Pompeii was billed as one of the early event movies of 2014, as Paul W.S. Anderson returned to the director's chair for the first time since Resident Evil: Retribution, and brought together a cast that also included Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jared Harris.
Set against the backdrop of the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., Pompeii 3D is the epic story of Milo (Harington), a young slave-turned-gladiator who must fight to save Cassia (Browning), the woman he loves, from the clutches of a corrupt Roman senator (Sutherland) before the city is destroyed.
Sadly, this was a predictable blockbuster that relied most on the special effects rather than developing a captivating narrative and well rounded and developed characters that you were really rooting for. This movie just fell into too many of the clichés that you expect from a film like this and was as melodramatic as it was hammy.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius is one of the most iconic events in the world's history and over the years, the discovery of homes and bodies could have led to some very interesting and powerful storylines. That fact that this was the best they could come up with for a key point in history really is a sad statement in itself.
This famous eruption resulted in thousands of lives lost and destruction on a massive scale, and yet all that - which we know to be true - is overlooked for a corny love affair story that we have seen so many times before. While does boy falling in love with girl as disaster strikes have to be the heart of any major movie? I don't know about you, but I am finding it all a bit tiresome and am waiting for some brave soul to come around and try something completely different.
Pompeii is a movie that is void of suspense and real drama and characters that you are really hoping will survive, but it really just descends into a heap of cheesy lines and a predictable and toe-curling ending.
I really do think that Kit Harington has a very promising future ahead of him - Testament of Youth in the new year looks set to show off a different and rather better side to him as an actor - but Pompeii really does little for him. He does the best with what he is given, but even he can't save this rather uninspiring, dull and clichéd script.
Pompeii is like Titanic and Gladiator mashed together and never really finds an identity for itself, which is a real shame. Anderson hasn't had a great run of success with his movies in recent years, and perhaps needs to think more about the story and the characters rather than focusing on the look of the film and the array of special effects that he may use.
Pompeii was one of the most forgettable movies of the year, and didn't come close to the type of movie that it could have been. It's a shame that they delivered a 'Hollywood' story rather than focusing on what actually happened - I think that would have been far more riveting watch. Major shame and a huge chance to bring this iconic event to the big screen in spectacular style missed.
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