Rating of
3/4
"Apocalypto" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/30/12
A Mayan tribe is raided and captured by a rival civilisation but young hunter Jaguar Paw escapes in an effort to reach his pregnant wife, still perilously concealed at their village. Anyone expecting (as I was) Dances With Lemurs is in for a big shock; Mel Gibson's name being attached to the project evokes certain preconceptions, but this gritty historical drama shatters them all. For a start, in a brave move, the entire film is subtitled which no doubt wrecked a lot of its box office appeal to the hicks but adds an awful lot to its authenticity. I'm no anthropolgist but to me this film had an intense realism to it I've rarely seen; at no time was it conspicuous that I was just watching actors acting. It all seemed brutally, bloodily real and Gibson certainly didn't shy away from the blood and guts. The costumes and use of colour, particularly in the lavish and grotesquely recreated Mayan citadel is extremely effective and I liked the way the plot showed that all civilisations (not just western conquerors) were built on the blood and sweat of the poor and powerless. It did lend itself to some hollywood button pushing; having the young wife both heavily pregnant AND stuck down a well seemed like overkill and the prophesying little girl who was straight out of a J horror film was just plain daft. But as a whole its a vivid and visceral action film that is really rather unique amongst its Hollywood peers. Just try to forget that a certain anti-semitic barbie guzzler was involved and you may actually enjoy it...
