Tweet

Apocalypto ranks alongside Children of Men as this year's finest art-house action picture. Its plot is simple and told with the deliberate energy of a slow-climbing rollercoaster. Jaguar Paw is torn from his village by mercenaries, while his pregnant wife and child lie trapped in a slow-flooding hideaway. Dragged on a nightmare into the heart of the Mayan civilisation, Jaguar Paw encounters a crumbling, empty horror of temples and head-dresses, sustained through an endless cycle of human sacrifice. When a near-impossible opportunity for escape appears, Jaguar Paw sets out on a mad dash to rescue his family with the mercenaries in hot pursuit.
It's an intense, unique spectacle – drawn from numerous historical sources, the costumes and makeup are far beyond the most extravagant science fiction blockbuster, and the Mayan city itself is brought to life with a verve and scale Cecil B. DeMille would envy. Unlike DeMille, Gibson never lets his film sag or sprawl, and keeps its epic dimension tethered to the elemental relationships and emotions at its core.
Gibson won an Oscar for Braveheart, but in Apocalypto, he displays real skill, not mere bombast. Hand-held digital camerawork gives the film a spontaneous feel, reinforced by Gibson's use of native, non-professional actors. Dialogue is spoken in Yucatec, but the most effective scenes, such as the interplay between the Mayan overlords as they struggle to hold sway of the crowd atop their temple, are wordless.
Similarly, the scene where Jaguar Paw is led past carvings showing blue-painted figures being scarified, and the captives' realisation that they have been similarly anointed, is a masterful moment of visual economy and dark horror.
If the storyline is straightforward, the themes of the film are profound, as Gibson contrasts skyscraper temples and endless jungle, chaotic city and sleepy village, duty and family, and provocatively questions the nature of civilisation itself. Apocalypto will challenge your perception of the controversial director's politics too. “The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and again,” Gibson described at an early screening. "What's human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?"

 

Milo Wakelin on 21st May 2007
View all 94 of Milo Wakelin's reviews