Call Mel Gibson what you want--drunken buffoon, anti-Semite, sadistic psycho--but don't ever call him out of ideas. With his well-publicized life in the tabloids tarnishing his very character to a point well past parody (Tom Cruise, anybody?), Gibson presents Apocalypto, an utterly macabre film about the nature of man that is not only a harrowing experience, but a real contender for Movie of the Year as well.
Set in a Mayan civilization in the early 1500's (while the date is never actually revealed, certain "instances" hint towards 1519 to be exact), Apocalypto tells the story of a villagers who, after a series of touching, even humorous instances of simple village life, are subjected to the raping and pillaging of their village; forced into servitude to eventually become human sacrifices at the hands of their captors. And since the villagers get captured almost immediately, the brunt of the movie surrenders itself into a brutal, take-all-prisoners vision so intense and relentless that you will leave the theatre with the most delightful headache.
Yet for all of Apocalypto's harsh brutality, its story is elegantly laid out like a classic three-act play, slowly unraveling a masochist's tale of solitude and survival.
irl16
the colors, the directing, and the story. I personally think Mel
Gibson makes some good movies. I dont care what the hell comes out
of his mouth or if he is actually part alien, he knows what he is
doing when it comes to making movies. And with that said, I really
enjoyed this movie and felt the expensive price of watching movies
these days was justified. :)