Apocalypto: Rumble in the junble

Lush and dramatic cinematography gives gravitas to the most basic of human stories. A man's love and determination to keep his family together. Rudy Youngblood plays Jaguar Paw a swaggering hunter who was the best in his village. He was brash, handsome and arrogant. He was soon humbled when taken into captivity by a band of marauding soldiers pillaging villages looking for human sacrifices to Kukulcan the Mayan sun god. Secreting his pregnant wife and their young son down a pit he promises to do whatever it takes to return and rescue them from the hole. He, along with his fellow villagers are dragged through the Yucatan jungle to the mighty city of temples. Opulent, decadent and blood-thirsty the great masses of thousands shout with trance-like frenzy as a high priest gruesomely vivisects hundres of captives while the royal family looks on with dispassion. At the very moment Jaguar Paw is to be sacrificed a total eclipse blights the sun and throws the ritual into darkness just as the Omens had foretold. Jaguar Paw is spared and given his freedom. But when he kills the son of the general he is pursued relentlessly through the jungle as he rushes to return to his beloved.

The acting was strong in this movie and the make-up never hindered but actually aided in the performances. Youngblood was able to push through a very physical role and show us severe heartache coupled with defiant exuberance at each obstacle he faced and overcame. Raoul Trujillo who plays the general Zero Wolfe is a powerful adversary that leads his men into harms way to avenge his son's death. Dalia Hernández as Seven the pregnant wife gives a beautiful determined yet bitterweet performance. Mel Gibson's direction wasn't as heavy handed as it was in The Passion of the Christ. He allowed us to be first be overwhelmed by the scale and spectacle of this film before bringing us back to a human-sized storyline. When the standard chase begins in the movie's third act we are completely engaged and running with the jaguars like a native. The ominous ending was unexpected and a bit ironic when Jaguar Paw is yet spared again when his chasers are caught off guard by the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. He finally rescues his wife along with his newborn son but we are haunted with lingering idea that as violent and reprobate as the Mayan civilization appeared to be, what was coming ashore from those ships was going to be infinitely worse for his family, his people and ultimately his way of life.