It's not my type of movie but i have to admit that the production design, costumes, acting, directing and editing is top notch. The lack of a solid story, real drama, however, is taking away a lot of the actual selling-point of this film: the philosophical ideas on the rise and fall of cultures and the underlying reasons for that. Now it's a lot of action sequences (and by god, they are executed brilliantly) and there is left only a presumption, a glimpse, of the masterpiece it could have been; being a film where superb action-drama would have gone hand in hand with an unusual and daring idea on the necessity of the fall of cultures.Nevertheless.. what a treat!

No doubt, an amazing movie directed by the one and only Mel Gibson. Starting from the story to the acting to cinematography, everything is very realistic and top notch which makes this movie a must watch for all film enthusiasts. Loved the movie and I have watched it more than 5 times - Sujan Azad Parikh.

Not often I watch a film that utilises an uncommon language...in fact this is probably the first. The dialogue extensively consists of Yucatan Maya and is used brilliantly to recreate a once great civilisation. It depicts the journey of a Mesoamerican hunter named Jaguar Paw whose entire tribe is mercilessly slaughtered and captured. They traverse the rural jungle and become prisoners to an almost civilised Mayan city who's culture and ideologies consist of ritual sacrifices. You see that 18 rating on the cover? Yeah, justified. This is relentlessly savage. I'm no expert on Mayan civilisation but the primal depiction and bloody savagery was completely believable. There's one scene that consists of beheading prisoners and letting the heads roll down the stairs of a colossal temple. Beautifully disgusting. There's only one director crazy enough to pull off this, Mel Gibson. Say what you want, there is no denying that he can direct the heck out of a film. His artistic integrity and attention to detail is one that allows films like this and 'Passion of the Christ' to be aimed towards mainstream audiences. The indigenous cast was revelatory and all of them took to their roles whilst preventing it from looking like a cosplay. The makeup and costumes oozed authenticity, some of those ear and nose piercings were eye watering! The chase sequences were adrenaline fuelled and well executed also. The major problem is the story, it's far too basic. It started off well, establishing character hierarchy within the tribe and how they interact with each other. Then Gibson chooses to focus on the savagery at an expense of losing the character focus. The third act literally consists of running with minimal dialogue, it's a tonal shift that didn't work. Think of it as 'Home Alone' but in a 16th Century jungle. Having said that, all the technical aspects outweigh the weak narrative to create a visceral artistic vision that is not for the faint hearted. Too many cut out hearts in one film...

(Originally reviewed: 26/02/2017) Mel Gibson can tell a story and here is a film that has originality, respectable acting from an unknown cast and great direction from Gibson himself. I will admit I found the film slightly too violent at times and a bit nasty but at least there was no cannibalism present. The story is utterly engaging, you want to know what's going to happen next, as the film is always interesting and usually unpredictable. The cast are extremely impressive; these actors should be cast in some American films as well as they give solid performances here; this included Rudy Youngblood (Jaguar Paw), Dalia Hernandez (Seven) and Morris BirdYellowhead (Flint Sky) to name a few. I think the cinematography was brilliant and the camera-work exceptional, though the film is all subtitles, I could see that the dialogue was thought out and well chosen, and the picture has a decent sense of humour at times.There were one or two things I didn't like; one is the opening scene, where they kill an animal of some sort and divide it's heart, testicles's and so forth; and within this scene they are joking and one guys eats the balls and I felt slightly uneasy with that disturbing sequence but thankfully it was only a five minute scene, I also didn't see why Gibson needed to show s couple of the prisoners being sacrificed and having their heart cut out and head chopped off and thrown down a flight of steps; this seemed slightly over the top for me; I think one person would have been efficient to show that point. I also didn't like how the film slowed down during the middle where the protagonist and his village; well what's left of them, are captured and it takes a while for them to get to their desired location and it felt like that for me as well; however fortunately it picks up after that and the last half hour or so are entertaining and compelling as hell. Gibson also wrote and produced this picture; which really proves how talented this guy is; his storytelling is always comprehensible and clear, and his visual outlook of the Mayan civilization is equally as good. Overall Apocalypto is an engaging piece of filmmaking with strong performances, solid direction and originality; it's one of those films that has the guts to try something different and continue to surprise; good work Gibson.