Apocalypto (Contains a Spoiler)

GREEN'S LIFE SAVING ECLIPSE-LIKE REVIEW:

A peaceful Mayan village is attacked and destroyed by invaders and its residents brutally murdered or taken captive. One man, Jaguar Paw, manages to hide his pregnant wife and son in a deep pit before joining in the defense of his village. After great struggle, he is captured and led to the great Mayan city where he and the other male captors are to be used for human blood sacrifice to appease the Mayan gods. As Jaguar Paw is set to be sacrificed, a solar eclipse comes and the Mayan priest declares the gods are satisfied with enough blood for now.

Jaguar Paw and the other captives are led to believe they will be freed if they can reach the distant cornfields. Three of Jaguar Paws friends are murdered while fleeing for freedom. Minus a close call, Jaguar Paw manages to escape. Thus begins the most harrowing and adrenalyne filled chase, as Jaguar Paw is pursued by Mayan warriors through the jungle, over a waterfall and through a quicksand-like mud pit. One by one, Jaguar Paw is able to out think and kill all but two of his pursuers (the remaining two are spellbound by the ships of arriving European explorers) as he races to reach his family and restore his tribal way of life.

This movie is nothing like I thought or expected it to be. With the title "Apocalypto", I thought the film was going to be some variation on the coming Biblical apocalypse. Thankfully, this movie is about as far from that as you can possibly get! For his second consecutive directorial effort, Gibson masterfully leads his viewers through a film without a word of English being spoken. As with The Passion of the Christ, it does not matter that we are forced to read subtitles throughout the film to understand the spoken language. The imagery is powerful and words are not needed. Here we are introduced to a group of hunters belonging to a peaceful village that is suddenly exposed to massive, horrifying violence by an attacking tribe. The tragedy of families brutally murdered and ripped apart is intense. The captives being led away from their homes and to eventual sacrifice on the altar of the Mayan gods is a sad commentary on the wanton savagery of this ancient South American culture.

Amid all of the blood. violence and savagery, this is a story of a man's courage and desire to escape bondage and death to save his family and their way of life which is all at once powerful and awe-inspiring. I must admit, it took me a few minutes to digest the magnitude of what I had just spent two plus hours watching. Was this film a waste of my time or just simply brilliant?

On a number of films, I've questioned Gibson's acting ability, and rightly so. After this masterpiece, one can no longer legitimately question his storytelling or directorial skills. This film puts him firmly in the company of the great directors of the last twenty-five years.

***** out of *****

SCRIBE'S GROIN-TINGLING, WORLD-ALTERING REVIEW:

Wow! Not at all what I was expecting and that's a good thing!

Permit me to explain: I was definitely expecting a good movie, just not a great one. Gibson has finally broken free of the only thing I felt hemmed in his directing skills, namely an over-reliance on symbolism and slow-motion camera work. Unlike Green, I've always considered him to be a great actor, but as a director his growth has been slow. Apocalypto reveals he has finally arrived.

He also continues to impress me with his choice of muse. Instead of just making another, albeit good, pro-Christian film, Gibson turned his attention to the ancient Mayan civilization.

Apocalypto shows us things that many of us might not have known. Not only do we see the utter brutality of the somehow sophisticated Mayan culture at the twilight of its decline as a civilization, but we also see how the more peaceful outlying villagers were treated as little more than fodder for their inane sacrificial practices.

Anyone who has studied the Mayans knows they had a highly developed astronomical knowledge. It is interesting to watch the city's holy man use that knowledge to impress the mouth-breathers with false entreaties to the gods to restore light during an eclipse. Much like the "miracles" of certain other religions, this is a mere parlor trick designed to keep the masses in line.

The thread holding this film together is the desire of the young warrior Jaguar Paw to escape captivity and return to his wife and 1.5 children. Sadly, there is another character whose more sympathetic portrayal makes him a bit more interesting, perhaps the only minor misfire in what is otherwise a masterpiece.

Since the ending has already been spoiled, I'll expound on one stroke of brilliance that truly impressed me. At the very end of the film, we realize this is all taking place mere days before the arrival of the Spanish explorers. Not only do we know something terrible is about to happen, but the movie tells us who those first two "Indians" were that greeted the Europeans.

To echo Green, this film places Gibson firmly in the company of the great directors of the last two decades. I can't wait to see what he does next.

***** out of *****