In a nutshell: Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in southern Italy, erupted in A.D. 79, obliterating the nearby city of Pompeii and leaving the baked corpses of its residents preserved in thick coats of volcanic ash.
That's about it. Given the swift finality of this event, any movie about it must consist largely of prologue. So the writers of the new movie "Pompeii" have devised a love story, played out amid much gladiatorial combat, to lead us up to the crowning cataclysm. Fine. But the participation of director Paul W.S. Anderson in this project will stir wariness in some prospective viewers; this is the proud hack responsible for the "Resident Evil" films, as well as "AVP: Alien vs. Predator"...
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