December 20, 2006

Apocalypto is bogus

Mad Max vs. the MayansSure, the movie is imbued with a Sepulvedan racism. It's also stomach-churningly violent even as it lectures us about the perils of moral decay (note to Mel: I hear from morally upright folks all the time that a taste for excessively violent entertainment is a strong indicator of moral decay). And there are plenty of the details of Mayan culture that he gets wrong, too (more on that later).

But Apocalypto is bogus on so many levels, including the simple elements of its plotline, that it's difficult to recommend it even as a piece of fantastic cinema. It's not even a particularly good chase film, which is what Gibson says he set out to make here.

2 comments:

almataina117 said...

Mr.ROB please why you take time to watch the movie Apocalypso from the begining to the end and then write things about the movie Mr.Mel Gibson wasn't on your side to hold you domn or force you to stay in your sit to watch the movie or you wanted to see a movie of indians making mud pots or making corn bread and then you said oh Mr Mel Gibson failed to be a good producer,etc,etc. Please in the history off our ancestor all this thing happend and nobody can change that or you Mr. Rob forget that in Massachusetts many people die because theire were acuse of witch craft and that happend in our back yard that was barbaric but happend so please people open your eyes we can't change the history.....

Rob said...

I haven't seen Apocalypto and I don't plan to. I don't watch movies with excessive violence and bloodshed.

I don't need to watch it to know few of the incidents it depicted actually happened. That's because a slew of critics have filled us in on the movie's mistakes and stereotypes.

In particular, the Maya weren't as savage and barbaric as Gibson portrayed them. They achieved remarkable things in the arts and sciences, none of which the film showed.

Since you chastised me, I'm taking this opportunity to enlighten you. But there's another point here. In this posting, I didn't offer my own opinion. I quoted one of the many critics of Apocalypto.

If you have a problem with that, follow the link to David Niewert's blog and take it up with him. Sorry, but I'm not responsible for his views.