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Review #335 of 365
Movie Review of Apocalypto (2006) [R] 138 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.50
Where Viewed: Harkins Cine Capri at Northfield 18, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 12 December 2006
Time: 12:20 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Mel Gibson (The Passion of the Christ)
Written by: Mel Gibson (The Passion of the Christ) and Farhad Safinia
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Rudy Youngblood (Spirit: The Seventh Fire) • Dalia Hernandez (debut) • Jonathan Brewer (DreamKeeper) • Morris Birdyellowhead ("Broken Trail") • Carlos Emilio Baez (debut) • Ramirez Amilcar (debut) • Israel Contreras (debut) • Israel Rios (debut) • Iazua Larios (debut) • Raoul Trujillo (The New World) • María Isabel Díaz (Volver)
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I give Mel Gibson credit for taking on controversial projects, saying regrettable things and apologizing, and trying to promote dialogue and discussion on issues and ideas through his films. I appreciated his efforts to create a film to draw on the history of the decline of Mayan civilization. He seemed as though he worked very hard to make it as authentic as possible. When so few USAers dare step out of their comfort zones to see independent and international films due to a lack of willingness to confront subtitles head on, it was a huge gamble on the part of Touchstone® and Mr. Gibson to make Apocalypto and give it the wide distribution such films deserve. Generally, with huge risk there is a huge reward. Unfortunately, that may not turn out to be the case with Apocalypto. I don't believe Mr. Gibson's recently stormy reputation in the media will be the cause for less than stellar box office vs. the subject matter. More impacting will likely be that, incredibly, far too few USAers are interested in the ancient cultures of Central and South America, and that English is never spoken in the film. Additionally, the story which gets off to an ok start, turns out to be one we've seen too many times before with similar outcome. In other words, while it has been written that there are no new stories, there are ones that seem, at least, fresh, while the story of Apocalypto is a cross between Braveheart and Gladiator we've seen before set in the Mayan jungle.
A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.--W. Durant
The prophetic quotation flashes first before the film begins and gives false promises as to what the film is really about, as does the preview sort of, by the way. Things get underway as a small clan of jungle-dwelling, forest-hunting, Mayans stalk and kill a group of tapirs using spears and an ingenious spring-loaded, swinging arm device. After the kill, the prized organs are handed out to the hunters with Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) determining the order for receipt. The testicles are given to the one member of the hunting party who has yet to produce offspring as a trick to see if he will believe and eat that which he is told will enhance his virility. He succumbs to the prank to the utter amusement of all involved. As the party returns to the small village of huts that houses their families, they encounter another band of Mayans on the move after their village has been ravaged by an unnamed force. An exchange of food puts them on good terms as they pass through the area to seek a new beginning. Back in the village, a slice of village life is seen with the love of Jaguar Paw for his son and pregnant wife. Things are merry and joyous, if not stereotypical, until slave traders from the neighboring Mayan city arrive, attack, overrun, and devastate the village, killing the village elders, capturing the healthy men and women, abandoning the children, and burning the huts. Jaguar Paw attempts to save his own wife and child by lowering them into a deep and rocky pit where they will not be spotted.
"…the film fails on its own premise…a cross between Braveheart and Gladiator we've seen before…"
As he returns to defend the village, he is captured and forced to watch the slitting of his father's throat. The remaining living adults are attached to long poles and then forced to begin the treacherous trek to the city. Along the way, the fearsome leader of the traders has numerous arguments with his own men who follow him only out of fear of him. The trek is perilous and at least one man is lost from Jaguar Paw's pole. Upon arriving in the outskirts of the city, they pass through a village, haunted by a young, diseased, girl who acts like an oracle predicting that soon day will turn to night and a man who can run with the jaguar will bring doom to the civilization. They march onward passed the underbelly of the society toiling in mines and crushing rocks to make paste, etc. until, at last they reach the market where the weaker men and women are sold off, or in the case of an elderly mother-in-law, set free when no one will buy her. The stronger of the men, however, will endure a different fate. They will be painted blue and taken to the top of a great pyramid where they will be sacrificed to the gods in hopes of ending the plague and bringing new life to the crops. The brutal ceremony involves the placement of the body on to a stone altar, the live removal of the beating heart, the decapitation of the victim, and the subsequent tossing of the head down the stairs of the pyramid to net catchers below. The body is then tossed down after. As Jaguar Paw watched his friends endure the fate of the sacrifice, it is clear he sees no honor in this end, and his eyes signal desperation and hope that he can get free to return and free his family from the deep hole he put them in for safety that became a prison when a slave trader found the dangling escape rope and cut it.
Billed as an epic, the film has most of the elements: a tragic hero, a damsel in distress, a wicked king, and a journey of the mind and soul of a man determined to save his family. What the film does not deliver is any clues or hints as to why the Mayan civilization collapsed. In fact, the full content of the film focuses less than 20% on the city-state culture and operation of the Mayans while directing the other 80% on the rainforest life and journey of Jaguar Paw. In this sense, the film fails on its own premise and transforms from a truly unique experience into the same story different setting. In the end, the film does little more than illustrate the unrelenting determination of one man to save his family against nearly insurmountable odds. The degree of insight into the culture is minimal. Again, I credit Mr. Gibson for trying to make an eye-opening film that would both captivate and provoke a sense of awe toward a civilization that was the most advanced at the time in the hemisphere. Unfortunately, he delivers very little on that end. The magnificence of their accomplishments is quickly dispatched in favor of the focus on their religious sacrifices. No fewer than four heads are tossed down the stairs of a great pyramid to which we have no clue how it was built. We learn little about the advancements in Mayan astronomy or agriculture. We learn nothing about the hierarchy, the religion, the language, the mathematics, or the operations of the city states. This makes for an interesting film, but certainly not a great film.
Billed as an epic, the film has most of the elements: a tragic hero, a damsel in distress, a wicked king, and a journey of the mind and soul of a man determined to save his family. What the film does not deliver is any clues or hints as to why the Mayan civilization collapsed. In fact, the full content of the film focuses less than 20% on the city-state culture and operation of the Mayans while directing the other 80% on the rainforest life and journey of Jaguar Paw. In this sense, the film fails on its own premise and transforms from a truly unique experience into the same story different setting. In the end, the film does little more than illustrate the unrelenting determination of one man to save his family against nearly insurmountable odds. The degree of insight into the culture is minimal. Again, I credit Mr. Gibson for trying to make an eye-opening film that would both captivate and provoke a sense of awe toward a civilization that was the most advanced at the time in the hemisphere. Unfortunately, he delivers very little on that end. The magnificence of their accomplishments is quickly dispatched in favor of the focus on their religious sacrifices. No fewer than four heads are tossed down the stairs of a great pyramid to which we have no clue how it was built. We learn little about the advancements in Mayan astronomy or agriculture. We learn nothing about the hierarchy, the religion, the language, the mathematics, or the operations of the city states. This makes for an interesting film, but certainly not a great film.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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Other Projects Featuring Apocalytpo (2006)
Cast Members
Rudy Youngblood
• Jonathan Brewer • Morris Birdyellowhead Raoul Trujillo
Director / Co-writer
Mel Gibson
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Apocalypto (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Credit goes to Mel Gibson credit for his efforts to create a film to draw on the history of the decline of Mayan civilization. Unfortunately, the outcome, which gets off to an ok start, turns out to be one we've seen too many times before with similar results--Apocalypto seems to be a cross between Braveheart and Gladiator set in the Mayan jungle. The prophetic quotation flashes first giving a false promises as to what the film is about. A clan of jungle-dwelling Mayans meets brutal slave traders from the neighboring Mayan city as they arrive, attack, overrun, and devastate the village, killing the village elders, capturing the healthy men and women, abandoning the children, and burning the huts. The protagonist of the story, Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood), hides is family in a deep well, and the story ultimately becomes about him and his attempts to return to save them.
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