Directed by:
Mel GibsonCinematography:
Dean SemlerComposer:
James HornerCast:
Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernández, María Isabel Díaz Lago, Raoul Max Trujillo, Rodolfo Palacios, Fernando Hernandez, Gerardo Taracena, Iazua Larios (more)Plots(1)
Mel Gibson's highly respected and multi-Oscar nominated historical epic set in the ancient Mayan civilization. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is the son of tribal leader Flint Sky (Morris Birdyellowhead) and when their village is viciously attacked by the a raiding party under Zero Wolf (Raoul Trujillo), he witnesses his father's murder. Jaguar Paw manages to make safe his wife and child in an underground pit with a lone vine for its escape route. He and the other men fight gamely but are brought to heel by Zero Wolf's men. As the raiding party marches their prisoners off the escape vine is cut, trapping mother and child underground. The prisoners are taken to a sacrificial pyramid to prepare for a solar eclipse at which many of them will be brutally and gruesomely dissected. The remaining few (including Jaguar Paw) are let loose in a wide field for sport - Zero Wolf's men raining spears, stones and arrows on them. Jaguar Paw negotiates the suicidal run and, though injured, bypasses a raider 'finisher', Zero Wolf's son, Cut Rock, by killing him. An enraged Zero Wolf pursues Jaguar Paw into the jungle with his fellow raiders. Can Jaguar Paw reach his dying family before the murderous Zero Wolf reaches him? (Icon Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
When I was 11, I read an incredibly comprehensive 8-part series about Tarzan and I completely fell in love with that world full of adventure, battles, and mysterious creatures. Back then, I dreamt that someone would make a movie that could visualize all that magic, adventure, action, and suspense. I think Mel Gibson could handle such a task admirably and that it would even be amazing. The problem is that Apocalypto presented itself as a real story set in the pre-Columbian era of indigenous cultures and at least the advertisement claimed that the viewer would learn a lot about these cultures. That is not the case at all. Apocalypto is a film that uses this setting as mere background for a very simple action-packed and quite bloody story about the raid and annihilation of a village. Native Americans did not fight or live like this. However, it is colorful, reasonably exotic, and dynamic. Gibson seems to be an average actor, excellent producer, and marketing wizard, but a problematic director. I would accept the film at least in its simple action-packed form, if it was also able to lighten up a little, but it takes itself too seriously and I cannot forgive that. Overall impression: 65%.
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Apocalypto can be seen as either an über-brutal adventure ride or an ideological banquet. The latter is heavily favored by Gibson's pro-Christian bigotry (ingeniously hidden here), the consistent depiction of the decline of the Mayan empire, which refers to the cause mainly in terms of social differences, and the finale with the arrival of the ships that so unwittingly save the protagonist, and it's hard not to notice the Christian symbolism in this scene. So it's not hard to see that Mel Gibson is currently a radical left-wing Catholic and for a long time that's the only thing to take away from the film. Fortunately, I'm reviewing this from a first-person perspective and thus, except for the unwatchable digital camera for me, I was supremely satisfied. Still, if Apocalypto is telling us between the lines that the Conquistador massacres were the best thing that could have happened to South and Central America, then still, points for courage -)
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A distinctive work by a distinctive artist. What I like about Mel Gibson is that despite the journalistic statements about "sadist Gibson", he still goes about his business, ignores all critics and keeps his creative freedom. He doesn’t spare violence here either, but unlike The Passion of the Christ, it is kept within tolerable limits (like the battle scenes in Braveheart). For example, the scene of the double sacrificial heart-cutting is quite subtly depicted, and its media criticism is completely out of place. If I am telling a story from the time of the late Mayan empire, it would be strange to omit this quite common practice. Aside from Gibson's light allusions to the manipulation of crowds and the depiction of the decadence of society, a concomitant phenomenon of the decline of great empires, looking for some kind of insight here is completely pointless. The whole film is constructed as a kind of ancient narrative of hunters somewhere by the fire, who, with typical male vanity, show off where they killed who, who they escaped from or who they saved. In this respect, the film is absolutely great and I don't really care about the lack of an idea. Moreover, Gibson's direction is imaginative, the make-up and adornments of the protagonists and the visuals of the Mayan metropolis scene are a triumph of cinematic art design. Mel did not disappoint again and continues to be for me a breath of fresh air in the stale Hollywood production :o)
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This hyperactive indie flick is never boring even for a moment – as long as you have popcorn. The deeper intellectual dimension is only artificially grafted on and, together with the gratuitous violence, undermines the film. Apocalypto could have been either an excellent family film or a great existential drama, but it’s unsuitable for children because of its brutality and it turns off adults with its thematic shallowness. On top of that, the visuals look cheap due to the large number of shots filmed with a digital camera. The dynamics and editing are great, but the filters could have been put to better use, which would have helped the appearance of the film, giving it the look that makes The Passion of the Christ an audio-visual gem. Apocalypto is a thrilling experience, but a few days after watching it, you remember it as a forgettable farce that missed the mark.
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Gibson has balls. To have the nerve to make a movie that ends up basically as one big chase through the ancient history of the Maya civilization, you have to have them. Although a bit more editing might have been an improvement, I am basically pleased with Apocalypto. And not forgetting Horner’s excellent music, too.
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Gallery (100)
Photo © Buena Vista Pictures
![Apocalypto - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/159/234/159234490_cf5819.jpg)
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