Apocalypto, Movie Review Example

The beauty of cinema for me has always been that it is an artistic representation of the human condition at a point in time as well as a reflection of our humanity. The art mingles with reality and the reality becomes art and the two merge in a kaleidoscope of fictional transport. Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto is one such film it transports you to a time long gone.

The first twenty minutes of any film establish the plot. When jaguar paw lowers his wife and child into the cave and leaves them a way out I was happy. Then the vine is cut by the captain. At this point I knew this will not be you typical Hollywood film or epic. When they come upon the Mayan city I am awestruck buy it size complexity. It is unlike anything I expected. At the top of e pyramid the high priest sacrificing several captives.

I am not a fan of anything bloody and that is exactly what you get human sacrifice a man eat man society. When he manages to escape from the game by killing Cut Rock. What struck me was the withering maize and the predicament the civilization is facing. You can almost feel the desperation the city is going through. I know that mass sacrifice is not typical of the Maya. The air of desperation is thick with the ting of death eminent and real.

After managing to escape I was surprised he decides to become the hunter. The scene where you see him running and the jaguar was simply beautiful. The jungle seems like a place no one would live in it is thick and dark. When jaguar paw jumps from the water fall I am let wondering is that for real or a cinematic trick.

His wife in the vertical cave I was sure was going to die when she went into labor. The way it was filmed was just brilliant I had never seen the begging of life in a movie before. It was actually artistic, the kind of artistic you would find in an art gallery.

The pursuit of jaguar paw leaves one with anticipation. A sense of suspense is ever constant in the film. The ending of the film is just classic, the ships in the distance allow jaguar paw to escape and to save and be reunited with his family. The ships are the Spanish. I loved the ending it brought the whole movie to a close that is really memorable. It is like new meets old and old meets new. The blood thirsty Maya meet the blood thirsty Spanish.

One of the things that must elicit a comment is how the camera work was used and the changing colors of the jungle to elicit mood and set the tone either before a scene or during a scene. When there was gloom the jungle would be dark and foreboding. When they entered the Mayan city it bright and red the kind of red we associate with danger and death. The brown of the maize when jaguar paw escapes into the forest it’s almost a metaphor for death. It leaves me wondering is the whole movie a metaphor for our modern civilization at its height. Blinded by its own arrogance and technology. To high minded to really truly save the environment. Still making human sacrifices to the oil machine. In wars and rumors and rumors of wars

I loved the movie because it was not your typical plot it was something new. It was not set where you would expect and the twists and turns in the movie leave you at the edge of you seat. The most interesting thing for me is that Mel Gibson is a really good director.