Apocalypto: New and Impressive

I normally don’t write movie reviews but I was so impressed by this movie I decided to write one. In my opinion it’s the best movie Mel Gibson has directed and provides a nice change in setting compared to movies of late. This movie seems well written, directed and acted. It delves into a culture that’s seldom been used in movies and provides a refreshing change that seems to be based on a good bit of historical research of the Mayan civilization.

I did learn a little bit about the Mayan in college and much of that I saw in the movie. The weapons for example are made obsidian and match the descriptions I had learned about from Spanish explorer records. Many of the actors and extras used in the movie look very similar to inscriptions in Mayan ruins. The costumes also look like the Mayan inscriptions. All of this detail, in my opinion, helps to transplant you to that time and make the movie more enjoyable. The last thing I would want to see is Brad Pitt as a Mayan trying to save his family. Mel Gibson did well by using actors that are either little known or not known at all in the US. For some it was their first acting role. Many are actual natives from Central America or are Native Americans from the US and Canada. The movie is also subtitled in the native language, which was a nice touch. The dialogue is not so much that you spend all of your time reading instead of watching; they have a good balance here. The following is rundown of the movie that’s not intended to rewrite the movie step by step but to give a concise description of the events.

This movie seems based during 1500s, in the Mayan region of Mexico, and revolves around a rural native village that is uprooted and ravaged by warriors searching for people to sell into slavery and others to sell for sacrifice to the gods. The main character (Rudy Youngblood), later known in the movie as Jaguar Paw, is separated from his family after hiding them in a deep pit during the raid on his village. After brutal fighting, he and the survivors from the village raid are bound and marched off for the Mayan capitol where they are to meet their fate. Once there the women are sold into slavery while the men are taken to the top of a Mayan pyramid to be sacrificed to the Mayan Gods. After watching one of their friends have his heart cut out and beheaded, fate steps in and cuts them a break. An eclipse occurs and the Mayan see it as a sign that their God is pleased with the sacrificial offerings and has had his fill. The remaining men are no longer needed and are marched off for killing practice by the warriors who brought them there. This is where Jaguar Paw manages to make his escape and is being pursued by the warriors, all the while leading them back toward his home territory and his family. As Jaguar Paw nears his home territory he begins to apply his hunting skills against the men hunting him and ultimately making his way back to his family to save them from rising rain water in the pit he hid them in.

The movie is a bit gory and has about the same amount of nudity you would see in a National Geographic magazine. Brutal fighting, beheadings and hearts getting cut out is the gory part. You watch a peaceful village get attacked and the families separated or destroyed. Mel Gibson did a good job showing this brutality and it made me feel horrified to think of my family being in that situation. As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, it all helps to transplant your mind into that environment. All of the actors did a superb job at acting in a way that I could relate to. They made their characters have personalities and be believable. Although some read politics into the movie I chose to simply watch the story and appreciate the accurate costumes and action. I wouldn’t change a thing.