Apocalypto
I am convinced that Mel Gibson is a good director. Braveheart was a revolutionary classic, violent, and even inspiring. The Passion of Christ was.. well it was okay. But his new movie, Apocalypto, just puts him at another level.
In essence, Apocalypto can be summarized in a single paragraph. One single paragraph: They are living peacefully in their community. A violent and disruptive tribe invades their village and kidnaps the men and women of the tribe. He escapes and journeys back to his family. "Apocalypse" begins.
With such a simplistic plot outline, this is where the genius of a director comes in. He can transform the story and screenplay into a riveting adventure. With Apocalypto, Mel Gibson was able to tell the story in a manner which immerses you in the whole movie. You actually feel that you were living with the Mayans and you actually felt that you were running with Jaguar Paw (lead character).Another thing to take into consideration was that he used a native Mayan language throughout the entire film. This concept was not really well received with The Passion of Christ. But with this film, after watching it, I actually couldn't picture the film with English as the spoken language. I think it would have removed a rather large piece of the overall beauty of the film if Mel Gibson used English. Unlike with The Passion's Hebrew and Latin usage, the Mayan language you hear in the film is not even remotely distinguishable. But it still adds to the ambience and mystery that surrounds the entire film. That, in itself, is pretty amazing.
In essence, Apocalypto can be summarized in a single paragraph. One single paragraph: They are living peacefully in their community. A violent and disruptive tribe invades their village and kidnaps the men and women of the tribe. He escapes and journeys back to his family. "Apocalypse" begins.
With such a simplistic plot outline, this is where the genius of a director comes in. He can transform the story and screenplay into a riveting adventure. With Apocalypto, Mel Gibson was able to tell the story in a manner which immerses you in the whole movie. You actually feel that you were living with the Mayans and you actually felt that you were running with Jaguar Paw (lead character).Another thing to take into consideration was that he used a native Mayan language throughout the entire film. This concept was not really well received with The Passion of Christ. But with this film, after watching it, I actually couldn't picture the film with English as the spoken language. I think it would have removed a rather large piece of the overall beauty of the film if Mel Gibson used English. Unlike with The Passion's Hebrew and Latin usage, the Mayan language you hear in the film is not even remotely distinguishable. But it still adds to the ambience and mystery that surrounds the entire film. That, in itself, is pretty amazing.
Overall, this movie is brilliant. The cast was chosen extremely well. The acting was top-notch. The camera angles used were amazing. Sound was good. The storytelling was great. And, the director was able to hold all of the important pieces of the film together.
Astig ang Apokalypto. Although I must admit that at one point I thought the movie transformed itself as a tribal version of RAMBO. This was just a fleeting thought though, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Tribal Rambo. Hehehehe. Astig naman si Rambo eh. Naglalagay ng pulbura sa sugat tapos sisilaban! - ANDREI
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