Martin Moszkowicz

Like an ancient Roman version of 2012, this disaster epic is a pure guilty pleasure, sparking plenty of laughter along with the massive effects-based carnage. It also helps that the screen is packed with muscle men in skimpy skirts. The actors dive in with gusto, adding plenty of personality to the ridiculous dialogue, while director Paul W.S. Anderson shamelessly ramps up the action mayhem.

It begins in AD 79 Britain, where Roman Senator Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland) is on the rampage, slaughtering the entire Celtic community of young Milo (Kit Harington), who is taken to Londinium to become a gladiator. When he rises to fame, he's transferred to Pompeii, where he immediately catches the eye of young noblewoman Cassia (Emily Browning), much to the scowly disapproval of her politically active parents (Carrie-Anne Moss and Jared Harris). An outsider among the local slaves, Milo is befriended by tough guy fellow gladiator Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). And when Corvus comes to town to claim Cassia as his bride, Milo decides to take a dangerous stand for both revenge and the girl. Meanwhile, Mount Vesuvius is rumbling, getting ready to unleash plenty of movie-style havoc.

It's impossible to watch this without thinking of the cheesy, similarly styled TV series Rome or Spartacus, with their corny melodramas, excessive violence and bare flesh. Even though this is on a much bigger scale with seriously enormous 3D special effects, it's just as cheesy. And equally entertaining as well. Harington is terrific as the hunky hero, building much stronger chemistry with the honourable Akinnuoye-Agbaje than the distressed Browning. And seasoned veterans like Harris, Moss and Sutherland clearly have a great time chomping madly on the scenery as Pompeii burns.

Continue reading: Pompeii Review

In the spidery space vessel Elysium, which left Earth in 2174, Bower (Foster) awakens from hiber-sleep with no memory of who he is. The ship's in trouble, and when Lt Payton (Quaid) wakes up, he doesn't remember anything either. So Bower heads into the darkened ship to try to reboot the power supply. But he soon encounters viciously murderous creatures, as well as a few lost and desperate crewmen (Traue and Le). Meanwhile, Payton finds the mercurial Gallo (Gigandet), who seems to know more than admits.

Continue reading: Pandorum Review

Or else they are the devil, as this virtual clone of The Omen shows us. The Calling, a direct-to-video scare flick, is so faithful to its obvious source material that after about an hour I began to wonder where it would diverge. Sure enough, it's right there at the end, when mom (Laura Harris) can't take it any more and decides to off her Satanic son (Alex Roe-Brown) for real. Never mind the cultists (including her husband, Richard Lintern) -- a group that makes up virtually the entire populace of the Isle of Man, the odd choice for the setting of this picture.

Continue reading: The Calling Review

Or else they are the devil, as this virtual clone of The Omen shows us. The Calling, a direct-to-video scare flick, is so faithful to its obvious source material that after about an hour I began to wonder where it would diverge. Sure enough, it's right there at the end, when mom (Laura Harris) can't take it any more and decides to off her Satanic son (Alex Roe-Brown) for real. Never mind the cultists (including her husband, Richard Lintern) -- a group that makes up virtually the entire populace of the Isle of Man, the odd choice for the setting of this picture.

Continue reading: The Calling Review