Review of Apocalypto (2006) by Rostokov — 06 Jan 2007

The base elements that give this film its appeal were already in place before this idea was a twinkle in Mel's eyes. The truly exotic immediacy of the Mayan culture; its dress, its architecture and, of course, its brutal sacrifices would appeal to most filmmakers.

As it is, Mel comes to the culture obsessed with its brutality, which is no bad thing, but unfortunately he does not support this interest with any further insight. How has Mayan civilisation progressed to this level of bloodshed? Is it perhaps a natural eventuality of civilisation? How does the hierarchy function to support it? Does power corrupt all? Only one scene, where a village elder ruminates on man's unquenchable greed, attends to these ideas, and it is never followed up.

I would have preferred it if more time was spent in the Mayan city, especially with its leader and his court (maybe the eclipse that blesses our hero could have granted him that power). So Mel has fashioned a basic action film, ok.

But unfortunately he has only the stomach for it, not the mind. There is little coherence in his shooting style; the film certainly reaches a base level of visceral excitement through its violent excess, but he does not structure his action in a deliberate and instructive way, like Spielberg or Cuaron would.

Instead what we often get is a frenetic impressionistic depiction of action. Despite all these criticisms, I still would recommend this film to viewers interested in Mayan culture or those just seeking pure action entertainment.

I just know there's a better film in there.