Apocalypto User Review

Apocalypto reviews

Rating

1/5

Author

A Yahoo! User

Best thing

unintentional comedy

Worst Thing

the story is extremely weak

Review

According to Mel Gibson Apocalypto means a new beginning, but for that to happen something needs to end, and this film is about one mans heroic struggle to save his wife.

Well nothing really ended in this film, and nothing else really began. Our hero's jungle village is attacked and after leaving his pregnant wife down a big hole he's taken prisoner to be used as a sacrifice in a big city.

Lucky for him they don't need his sacrifice just as he's about to lose his head and he spends the rest of the film running from the people that captured him to try and get back to his wife in the hole.

Unintentional hilarity ensues when a jaguar chases him, probably the worst looking animal in a film ever, which makes the big rubber shark in Jaws look ultra-realistic.

As he takes out his captors one by one, our hero worries that his wife will die when it starts to rain, but the rain is a good thing as it leads to another funny moment where his wife strains a bit, then casually pops a baby out underwater.

Our hero gets back to his wife, but then leaves her again as he's still being chased, getting cornered on the beach, where he and his captors see men coming in on boats. Somehow he's then just free to go back to get his wife and kids out of the hole and live happily ever after.

Overall, Gibson's vision of his epic doesn't match up to the film he made. The title and hype suggest something apocalyptic, instead all you get is a guy getting captured, escaping then running home.

The subtitles don't harm the film at all, the graphic violence is OK in the context of the story, the acting is fine and the fights and chase scenes are good, but the entire movie lacks something to hold it together, which is a compelling story that keeps you interested.

When an epic drama is most memorable for a few funny moments, there's clearly a problem with it, and Apocalyto is ultimately an awful attempt at what it could have been.

Date reviewed