Apocalypse Pompei

Imagine a group of strangers involved in an apocalyptic event with no story and meaning behind their meeting. No development of the characters at all. Imagine volcano fumes that on one hand kill by-passers on the spot, but on the other hand are stopped by a glass&lead door. Imagine parents who take their daughter to a bus-trip to a volcano mountain, that is obviously waking up. Imagine all sorts of ridiculous things, e.g. a man going to a sort of job interview, coincidentally having with him 2 satellite telephones... Last but not least, imagine few busty slim cute chicks running away from a disastrous hot gases etc. And that would be the summon of evil of this movie :)

Seriously... the acting in this pile is so wooden I half expected them to get naked and start going at it at any time.

Or, actually, that is an insult to porn stars, as even they act better.

Effects look like something from a 1960s movie, plot is a joke, script is a roll of toilet paper (the used kind).

I guess you could sit down and watch it if you have nothing better to do with your time. Even though pretty much ANYTHING is better.

Your best bet would be to drink a LOT before sitting down if you want to last more than 5 minutes. Maybe then it passes into "so bad it's funny" territory.

Another cash-in on a potential blockbuster by none other than The Asylum, of course. There is no doubt about that "Apocalypse Pompeii" has seen the light of day because of the forthcoming "Pompeii" movie, just as what The Asylum did when "Pacific Rim" was about to come out, then they put out "Atlantic Rim", or the "Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies" just prior to "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer" came out.

Nevertheless, then I will say that "Apocalypse Pompeii" is actually not as bad as to be expected, and The Asylum did manage to put together a decent enough movie here. Sure, this is not a groundbreaking innovation in movie history, but still, it is enjoyable to watch - despite its predictability and cliché stereotypical built up.

The story is about an American family who has moved to Italy, and while the father Jeff (played by Adrian Paul) has to go to an important meeting, then his wife Lynne (played by Jhey Castles) and daughter Mykaela (played by Georgina Beedle) go to the ruins of Pompeii. A natural disaster takes place, causing Mount Vesuvio to erupt and the tourists trapped in Pompeii struggle to stay alive. Acting against the Italian government and American army, Jeff and his band of soldiers steal a helicopter to go to Pompeii to rescue his wife and daughter.

That was basically the entire storyline summarized in a few lines. The story is so predictable and cliché that it just drips with stereotypical ooze. There are no surprises here, and you see everything coming a mile away.

The acting in the movie was adequate for a movie of this caliber.

All in all, then "Apocalypse Pompeii" is good enough entertainment for a single viewing if you have nothing better at hand to watch or nothing better to do.

Apocalypse Pompeii is a production of The Asylum—a film production company known for making so-called 'mockbusters'. These mockbusters are films that are released to coincide with the release of big studio epics in order to capitalize on the hubbub surrounding the big-budget movies. They feature titles that are VERY similar to the bigger films—and the movie poster for Apocalypse Pompeii looks an awful lot like that of the upcoming Pompeii! A few other examples of their films are Atlantic Rim, Death Racers, American Battleship, Snakes on a Train…and many others. They also are the same folks who have given us the Sharknado franchise. Because of this, it's obvious the film will have a low budget and very modest pretensions—and most likely will be a film you'll see coming direct to DVD. Despite all this, it is surprising to see that the film actually was shot, in part, in Pompeii as well as…Bulgaria?! Also, the plot is radically different from Pompeii—with the big budget film being set in ancient times and the mockbuster being set in the present.

The film begins with a prologue showing some Hispanic family fleeing in terror from a volcano eruption. Oddly, however, this has almost nothing to do with the film—a film set on the other side of the globe in Italy! After the credits roll, you see a family in Naples. The father has a business meeting and he's brought his wife and teenage daughter with him. While he's at his big meeting, the rest of the family goes to an outing to nearby Pompeii—site of a huge mega-explosion that killed thousands in 79 A.D.. Not surprisingly, soon after the pair arrives at Pompeii, the mountain explodes—and folks run for cover. Fortunately for those who teamed up with the wife and daughter is the fact that the teen knows MORE about volcanoes and how to survive them than a team of volcanologist!! This all-knowing girl, again and again, knows EXACTLY what to do and helps this group survive long enough for the father to become a Rambo-like action hero! The dad (of course) is some sort of ex-military genius and he instantly assembles a team to help him steal a helicopter from a military base (!!) and head to Pompeii to look for his family. If it sounds like the plot is stupid and filled with significant plot problems, then you are pretty much right on the mark!

So is the film 100% bad? No. As I mentioned above, it does have some actual footage of Pompeii. It also keeps your interest, as the pace and music work fairly well and SOME of the acting is competent. Unfortunately, the plot is stupid and the characters are shallow—often coming off as caricatures. I wouldn't rush out to buy a copy or rent the film. Instead, I'd wait until it most likely shows up on the SyFy Channel and watch it if you have absolutely nothing else to do (and that includes washing your hair, checking your air conditioner filters and breathing).

I liked the movie about as much as I liked any Asylum movie and that is to say pretty well. You have to know what you are getting into here with these kinds of movies and not have your expectations set so high is basically my opinion. Sure we can go through and ask why didn't they do this and why didn't they do that and why were the special effects worse than many video games and why was did the acting inspire me to think that maybe I could be an actor too if that's all it takes but you just have to set all that aside when you sit down to watch these movies and just take pleasure in them for what they are, a mildly entertaining distraction but one that like a book challenges you to use your own imagination a bit more than your Hollywood blockbusters that allow you to just sit back and have yourself fully immersed in the experience with little to no effort required on your part. Anyway, my advice is to substantially lower your expectations and then you will enjoy your movie much more. It's what I do and I've yet to be disappointed.