Apocalypto (Mel Gibson, 2006)

Apocalypto (Mel Gibson, 2006)
Rating: 6.8

Despite being a unique visionary experience in that the film is in the Maya language and revolves entirely around the Mayan culture, Apocalypto is overwrought with clichés and is ultimately an action/adventure drama and is framed as such. The beginning consists of several lighthearted comic scenes that deconstruct the stoic Indian stereotypes, while the ending results in the birth of Jaguar Paw's son and a sort of an anti Deus ex machina, as the white man arrives complicating matters and marking the beginning of the end for the Mayans. The moment we are introduced to our protagonist's father, it becomes quite obvious that he will meet his demise at some point by the hands of an excessively villainous foe as the hero watches on in slow motion. In between Gibson provides us with thrilling chase scenes, gripping violence, and an arsenal of jungle creatures used as defense mechanisms (see Jaguar, snake, beehive, and poisonous frog for examples). The historical inaccuracies and implausibility of a lot of the scenarios are inexcusable in my opinion, especially when the filmmakers have gone to all the trouble of authenticating the intricacies of the culture. I thought the makeup, costuming, art direction, setting, cinematography and camerawork were all exceptional. There were a few scenes reminiscent of Herzog's Aguirre: the Wrath of God as the captives are marched to the slave auction, however these moments were too brief and few. The sacrifice scene along with the waterfall jumping scene were also pretty spectacular.As for what Gibson is trying to say, I'm not completely sure. The decadent sacrifice and slave auction scenes seemed to suggest that greed and selfishness were the causes of war and violence against humanity, but does he really expect us to see the Christians arriving in the end as saviors? The film really is visually stunning, even engrossing at times, and it still manages to provide some uniqueness in all it's mundanity.