Severed heads, entrails, torn hearts, headless corpses, rotting fields of the dead, axe wounds to the skull, and death by jaguar are just some of what's in store, and it's all handled very well indeed. Gibson goes all-out with the bloodshed from the very beginning. The bad guys end up getting picked off one by one in increasingly satisfying ways, pretty much like something out of a horror film. The latter part of the film is more straightforward, and my favourite bit: it's essentially a re-run of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, as our lone, wounded hero attempts to flee a gang of well-armed hunters. Through his eyes, we see hundreds of remarkable sights that I'll have fun watching again and again. The film follows the journey of Jaguar Paw, the excellent young hero, who's taken as a slave to a Mayan city where blood sacrifice is the norm.
The cast of unknowns are entirely remarkable, each and every one one of them, and it's amazing how the viewer can empathise with them from the very first scene, despite the facts that their characters are little more than jungle savages who speak in an unknown tongue. It's Gibson's best film as director, beautifully shot throughout with some stunning jungle locations, an epic and awe-inspiring Mayan city that will take your breath away, and the best waterfall scene I've seen in a film. APOCALYPTO neatly blends the type of skillful direction we've come to expect from the director with an action-film template that never disappoints. When I heard his latest movie was an action adventure about the ancient Mayans, I was pumped and pretty sure I'd enjoy it.
The focus was on viscera and the downbeat story was just too tough to enjoy. While I enjoyed Mel Gibson's last historical epic, Passion of the Christ, I found it a bit lacking in heart. Reviewed by Leofwine_draca 10 / 10 An all-time favourite adventure film
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