Rating of
1/4
More Michael Bay then Mel Gibson
Tino - wrote on 05/16/08
10,000 B.C. is the kind of movie that you sit through, thinking of entirely better films for the whole length of the movie. This is a whopper of a misdeal. This is trying to be the next epic adventure movie, and there is really nothing epic about it. It is a flat, dull, almost embarrassing try for sword and shields action-adventure movie, but there is very little action and no real sense of adventure here. Roland Emmerich has gone from a valued action 'epic film' director, to a bad quality effects director, similar to Michael Bay. From the glory days (somewhat glory, nowhere near great masterpieces) of Independence Day, Stargate, and the Patriot, he has come to less character development, less story, and more action, and long supposed-to-be-dramatic shots of character faces. This is incredibly ineffective against an educated movie mind. There is potential here, but it is just ruined by an over-abundance of special effects, and a sheer lack of thought put into production.
The story is about a young caveman named D'leh, who is destined to save his tribe. They live up in the snowy mountains, and a band of Egyptian raiders come to kidnap many of their people, and take them back as slaves. Him, a friend, and his mentor Tic Tic, begin to follow the Egyptians after the attack, trying to save their people, and D'leh's mysterious love, Evolet. As they travel, both the raiders and the tribesmen encounter dangers from the local animal kingdom. First of all, as they travel, there are literally shots that show the transition as they go from their mountainous snowy home to the humid rainforests. They are actually right next to each other. There is no separation between those two vastly different environments. The same thing happens when they transition from rainforest to desert. There is a scene with a saber-tooth tiger that seems like a major part of the story, but both scenes with the tiger end up being almost completely pointless, completely lackluster, and overall just stupid. The movie has a few good action scenes, such as the one in the rainforest with the giant ostrich-like birds, but it is nowhere near anything to recommend the entire movie for. The ending is simple and unsatisfying, with mediocre action at best. Mr. Emmerich, next time, just put some more thought and care into your movie. Movies with potential that fall short because the film-makers don't care are the worst kind.
