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Apocalypto Movie Review

Apocalypto is a 2006 epic action adventure film written and directed by Mel Gibson. It is a very strong, admirable effort.

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“I am Jaguar Paw!

This is my forest!

My sons and their sons

will hunt here after I am gone!“

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The film follows Mayan civilization and in particular one man whose village is destroyed and his people are taken to be sacrificed and sold as slaves. He escapes his pursuers and an epic chase ensues. In terms of storytelling, the film is pretty good, but not great as Mel Gibson’s script should have been better. His direction is simply splendid, but as a writer he struggles a bit.

There is no denying the power and the authenticity of this film. Gibson literally employed real Mayan as well as Native American actors and thus the characters look real and authentic. In terms of the overall production, and I wall talk about that later in depth, he delivered magnificently.

I liked the characters quite a bit. The characterization is quite strong for this type of film and naturally Jaguar Paw is the highlight and so well played by Rudy Youngblood. The villains are fantastic as they are very competent and strong and they thus posed real challenge for the hero. The film definitely is very well acted despite most of the cast not being professional actors.

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So let’s get back to the plot. Apocalypto flows incredibly well despite being over two hours long. It is not only never dull, but it’s actually immensely entertaining and in long stretches even riveting. It starts off as drama, then it becomes a historical spectacle and ends up being a survival action-adventure flick in its third act. The ending is the highlight for sure.

So all of the film is involving and very good, but still not great. My main gripe with the film is its lack of sophistication. The action-packed third act is surely phenomenally executed and hugely entertaining, but it contains some blockbuster trappings such as slow-motion which bothered me. But the film’s refusal to tackle any of its potential themes is frustrating to me.

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It could have been a sophisticated, interesting exploration of different civilizations, whether or not the Mayans deserved their fate, political corruption etc. But the film just settled with barely tackling those, if tackling them at all. It is too much of a spectacle and not much of a period meditation piece is what I’m trying to say.

But what a spectacle it is! Yes, Apocalypto features such fantastic action sequences that I do believe Mel Gibson should try his hand at developing a major action/superhero tent pole. This action is incredibly entertaining, brilliantly executed and enthralling. I loved how he utilized so many potential dangers in the jungle such as venomous animals and waterfalls into the action. It is for the most part a very grounded in reality film and that lends it huge credibility.

The cinematography is simply stunning to behold. Yes, each frame of this film is beautifully composed and shot with the jungles, the buildings and everything else looking realistically and the fact that he shot the film in and around Mexico is a huge plus. The score is also outstanding and the sound effects are so great and deservedly Oscar nominated.

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The dialogue is also solid, if too sparse, and the fact that he employed real Mayan language is groundbreaking and just impressive. Gibson’s direction is reliably outstanding and he truly directs his movies with panache. The problem with violence is definitely there. Yes, it is realistic, but still some of it, including historically inaccurate human sacrifice, was uncalled for and over-the-top and it took me out of it a bit. But it’s a period piece so it needed to be at least somewhat brutal.

Apocalypto’s refusal to tackle any of its potentially interesting themes is frustrating and the film is definitely too bombastic at times and way too violent, but also impressively realistic and the fact that Gibson shot the film on location with real indigenous people and real Mayan language is to be admired. The story is pretty solid, the action is brilliantly executed and the film is consistently riveting to watch. The score and cinematography are amazing as well and Gibson’s direction is outstanding. It is a very good, hugely entertaining film, but I just wish that it was better scripted.

My Rating – 4

You can get Apocalypto on Amazon.