12.23.06
lee1990 Movie Review: Apocalypto
Mel Gibson continues on this track of making non-foreign foreign language films with his subtitled Mayan adventure Apocalypto.
This run in the forest is no walk in the park for our hero, a hapless Mayan villager named Jaguar Paw who is taken captive following a murderous raid on his village by Maya warriors. In the midst of the raid, he hides his pregnant wife and small son down a well to save them, but is subsequently captured in the battle.
His chief antagonist is a sadistic so-and-so who gives Jaguar Paw the contemptuous nickname “almost” after he kills his father before his eyes.
Following a long journey, Jaguar Paw comes to a unnamed Maya city. Here you see a combination of all theories regarding the end of the Mayan civilization: deforestation to create lime plaster for their elaborate temples, rampaging drought, famine, disease. It is truly portrayed as a time of apocalypse. And there is death everywhere. The scenes at the top of the temple as Jaguar Paws fellow captives are sacrificed by a priest quite literally soaked in blood to the bloodthirsty sun god are not for the squeamish, and at one point you encounter the largest heap of corpses put on screen since “The Killing Fields”
Our hero is saved from sacrifice by the first of many deus ex machina moments that enter into the plot, all of which are foretold by a sickly girl who prophesies all the signs of the end of the Maya after the warriors chase her off for being ill. He manages a daring escape, and the hunt begins as the Maya track him through the jungle. He must also race back as fast a he can, for the torrential rains of Central America are coming to drown his trapped family.
The movie is very long (about 2 1/2 hours), but moves fast enough to maintain your interest. It presents an image of a once great but self-destructing civilization. There is one very historically inaccurate element at the end that I will not give away, but appears to have been placed there just to finish off the sense of approaching doom that pervades the movie, and to offer a nod to political correctness.
Altogether, worth the admission price, but would be just as enjoyable on DVD. This option may be best for those who have no tolerance for lengthy movies that do not rely on spectacular visuals best seen in theaters.
