Apocalypto

innerSpaceman · 12-10-2006, 05:25 PM

... and two hours later, my review is ....

Meh.

Not as in Mehl. Just meh. Nothing great, nothing terrible. A decent enough actioner in a very unusual setting. I guess I should give it points for keeping my interest as a foreign language film (I don't usually do well with subtitles).

I think many reviewers are giving it a bum rap as to blood and gore. I didn't find any of the bloodletting gratuitous. In fact, during plot-necessary scenes of human sacrifice, the action and lensing were staged to specifically avoid showing the gory stuff.

The lead actor who played Jaguar Paw was very effective, and the story was interesting. But it just didn't grab me all that much. Without spoiling too much, it's a tale of capture and escape and comeuppance ... and there was so much hard-hitting stuff that I felt should have hit me harder ... but somehow didn't.

The mid-section of the film was at once the most interesting and most irritaing part. As our hero is led through the Mayan suburbs and city, we get fascinating and visually breathtaking views of the culture and society ... but the characters move through all this like it's a theme park ride, and that's a tactic I hate.

If there was some kind of analogy about the decay of Mayan civilization to our own, it was not played out specifically. But I feel that's where the film was strongest. All in all though, not the bravura stupendousness that I'd hoped for. And certainly not the sadistic twist-fest that some have wrongly railed against.

No gaybashing or jewbaiting either, GC. But yeah, the Maya did not come off well. Maybe they'll be the next subject of Mel's DUI ranting.

Alex · 12-10-2006, 05:49 PM

Just got back from it as well.

Without much effort I could name a dozen recent movies that are just as explicit and sadistic with the violence and didn't feel it was anything out of line in that regard.

The thing that didn't sit well were some of the attempts at humor. The opening scene stuff was good and served to create a common connection with the audience (the locker room hasn't changed much). But some of the stuff later on really felt out of place and may be why some are reacting poorly to the violence. Either make it deep and significant or cartoonish, but what little humor there was undercut either.

This really wasn't the movie for a Midnight Cowboy reference.

Gibson hinted at something great with the scenes in the Mayan city. The corrupt struggle by power to maintain power when things start to go wrong. The misuse of fear and superstitition. But that is just a second act mechanism for setting up the third act chase.

From that point on it was just a genre flick that has been done many times. When Jaguar Paw took out his first bad guy in the jungle he should have said "yippee-kai-yay mother****er" just to give a nod to the best movie of this story type.

I was entertained. It was beautifully shot. I love listening to languages with absolutely no linguistic connection to Latin or Greek. The first half up until the temple scene is fantastic, brutal, and heartwrenching. The second half is just by-the-numbers genre work. Unfortunately, that is the reverse of what it needed to be. It is ok to start genre and go deep, but the reverse generally doesn't work well.

I think the reviews would be better for the exact same movie if the name on top was other than Mel Gibson and critics have gotten it into their heads that it is time to psychoanalyze the filmmaker and forget to give due consideration to the film.

The environment of a film is certainly valid for discussion but ultimately it is about the individual movie.

12-10-2006, 05:25 PM	#1
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	... and two hours later, my review is .... Meh. Not as in Mehl. Just meh. Nothing great, nothing terrible. A decent enough actioner in a very unusual setting. I guess I should give it points for keeping my interest as a foreign language film (I don't usually do well with subtitles). I think many reviewers are giving it a bum rap as to blood and gore. I didn't find any of the bloodletting gratuitous. In fact, during plot-necessary scenes of human sacrifice, the action and lensing were staged to specifically avoid showing the gory stuff. The lead actor who played Jaguar Paw was very effective, and the story was interesting. But it just didn't grab me all that much. Without spoiling too much, it's a tale of capture and escape and comeuppance ... and there was so much hard-hitting stuff that I felt should have hit me harder ... but somehow didn't. The mid-section of the film was at once the most interesting and most irritaing part. As our hero is led through the Mayan suburbs and city, we get fascinating and visually breathtaking views of the culture and society ... but the characters move through all this like it's a theme park ride, and that's a tactic I hate. If there was some kind of analogy about the decay of Mayan civilization to our own, it was not played out specifically. But I feel that's where the film was strongest. All in all though, not the bravura stupendousness that I'd hoped for. And certainly not the sadistic twist-fest that some have wrongly railed against. No gaybashing or jewbaiting either, GC. But yeah, the Maya did not come off well. Maybe they'll be the next subject of Mel's DUI ranting.
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12-10-2006, 05:49 PM	#2
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Just got back from it as well. Without much effort I could name a dozen recent movies that are just as explicit and sadistic with the violence and didn't feel it was anything out of line in that regard. The thing that didn't sit well were some of the attempts at humor. The opening scene stuff was good and served to create a common connection with the audience (the locker room hasn't changed much). But some of the stuff later on really felt out of place and may be why some are reacting poorly to the violence. Either make it deep and significant or cartoonish, but what little humor there was undercut either. This really wasn't the movie for a Midnight Cowboy reference. Gibson hinted at something great with the scenes in the Mayan city. The corrupt struggle by power to maintain power when things start to go wrong. The misuse of fear and superstitition. But that is just a second act mechanism for setting up the third act chase. From that point on it was just a genre flick that has been done many times. When Jaguar Paw took out his first bad guy in the jungle he should have said "yippee-kai-yay mother****er" just to give a nod to the best movie of this story type. I was entertained. It was beautifully shot. I love listening to languages with absolutely no linguistic connection to Latin or Greek. The first half up until the temple scene is fantastic, brutal, and heartwrenching. The second half is just by-the-numbers genre work. Unfortunately, that is the reverse of what it needed to be. It is ok to start genre and go deep, but the reverse generally doesn't work well. I think the reviews would be better for the exact same movie if the name on top was other than Mel Gibson and critics have gotten it into their heads that it is time to psychoanalyze the filmmaker and forget to give due consideration to the film. The environment of a film is certainly valid for discussion but ultimately it is about the individual movie.
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