Apocalypto Review
by Tim Voon (winklebeck AT hotmail DOT com)January 18th, 2007
Apocalypto (2006)
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 2006 Timothy Voon
4 out of 5 stars
Cast: Rudy Youngblood, Dalia Hernandez, Jonathan Brewer, Morris Birdyellowhead, Raoul Trujillo, Rodolfo Palacios
Director: Mel Gibson
This is an adrenaline charged movie from the word go. It is by all means exciting and kept me personally engrossed from beginning to end. It is an unusual mix of history, melodrama and suspense that is drenched in violence. I am not an advocate of violent films, but I didn't feel that this movie was purely violent for the sake of violence itself.
A lot of criticism has gone the way of director Mel Gibson, by historical pundits of the ancient Mayan empire, that it isn't historically accurate. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, what do they really know about a civilization that was vanquished a very long time ago? I mean the pictures on the stone temples speak for themselves - heads being chopped off, hearts being pulled out etc.
The cast of unknowns are excellent. I guess it goes to show that anyone can act. They are very believable and speak the ancient tongue well. In fact the fact that the movie is not spoken in English, gives this film a realistic edge. After a short while of sitting in the cinema, one easily forgets that they are actually reading subtitles.
I think that Mel Gibson is becoming a fine film maker. There is just the right mixtures of drama and suspense thrown into this film to make this movie an exciting sit. His use of crude 'jock' jokes relating to testes and infertility got the attention of the male audience who may find this sort of thing amusing early on in the film. Whilst the elements of a trapped pregnant mother and child in a well, whilst the husband desperately tries to free himself in order to save them, would appeal to the female audience.
I really felt that was transported back in time to a different place and time in the world by this movie. There are some important lessons also to be learned also from this movie. Early on in the film, an elder of a tribe tells the story of the people taking more and more from the land, in order to fill their emptiness within that was unquenchable. Until finally, the Earth says to the people 'I have no more to give'. I guess I am being overly reflective here, but mankind is still the same today as it was a few thousand years ago. The only problem now is that there is a lot more of us. I fear for our planet Earth in the future to come.
Timothy Voon
Email - [email protected]
Web - 'Movies in Melbourne'
http://home.iprimus.com.au/winklebeck/index.htm
Archives - http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Tim+Voon
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
