Apocalypto

Apocalypto, as you probably know, is the latest by Mel Gibson, a film about a period near the end of the Mayan civilization. The plotline (THERE ARE SPOILERS) is as follows: There are these happy-go-lucky village folk living their lives when warriors from the city come and ransack the village, kidnapping some and killing the rest. The kidnapped are herded back to the city where they are to be sacrificed to the Mayan gods, as the religious people believe this will make things better for the Mayans, as times were quite rough. Well, the main character, Jaguar Paw, escapes after killing the lead warrior's son, and the chase is on.

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If you read that, you can see it is a pretty neat backdrop for a movie. That was what drew me. There aren't too many Mayan movies out, and this is very well done. To be honest, it was a lot of fun... until the end. But I'll get to the end in a bit. It is adventurous, violent, and intense. There is very good acting, and it is quite exciting. I had somewhat feared that the chase scene was going to be very boring. I mean, how exciting could running through the woods be? But I was wrong, it stays fresh throughout.

The ending I was talking about... woo wee... ok first SPOILERS!!!

Now, when the city warriors invaded the village, Jaguar Paw hides his pregnant wife and child in a small cave in which there is no way out if Jaguar Paw isn't around to get her out. So, she is waiting around down there hoping they are saved. Meanwhile, Paw gets into his hectic run home to be with her again. On the way, it starts raining hard, therefore the cave starts to fill up with water. The wife and child are close to drowning. And then the wife starts pushing out, like she's going into labor. And I start getting really really nervous. No way, this is NOT going to happen... but it does. The camera goes underwater, and bam, out pops a baby (so obviously a doll in this scene). It was so awful, and yet so hilarious. It was absolutely pointless and ridiculous.

That killed the mood of the movie for me. Why was that even in there? Why? It's not enough to have her nearly drown in a cave, for all the intense action scenes with Jaguar Paw, we got to add in this awful birthing scene? You haven't seen anything until you see the scene where the baby pops out. It might be somewhat shallow of me to be mired in talking about this scene, but it was such a terrible scene.

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So after the above mentioned scene, I was rather lost. I had loved the movie up to that point. I just can't think of a reason for that ending.

But as an action-adventure movie set in a very interesting period, this is a pretty good, fun film. There is a good bit of violence so be ready for that.