After directing The Passion of the Christ (2004), I was as interested as the next Catholic as to what Mel Gibson would next give us.  What I did not expect was Apocalypto (2006).  Because of the previous film, I thought he would continue to make religiously themed films.  I do not think I can be blamed for this assumption.  With the money The Passion of the Christ made, and the care he displayed for the subject, it seemed like Gibson’s career was set.  This is mostly why I did not give Apocalypto a chance, but also because I was beginning my academic career and eschewed what I figured would be a Hollywood version of past events.  It is this last reason that stood out the most now that I finally got around to watching the movie.  Hopefully, this does not turn you off from continuing to read my review.

With a title like Apocalypto, you would not be off in thinking that something was about to come to an end.  In the beginning, it is the life of a tapir, which is being hunted by a group of men from a nearby Mayan village on the Yucatan coast.  Leading the party is Flint Sky (Morris Birdyellowhead), their chief, along with his son Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood).  They return with their pray, laughing at the strong but easily put upon Blunted (Jonathan Brewer), who is trying everything to conceive with his wife.  There are signs that all is not well.  While in the forest, the hunters had encountered a band of dislocated people who said they were looking for a new beginning before disappearing again into the foliage.  Jaguar Paw shares his concerns with his father, but Flint Sky advises his son not to fear.  In the morning, however, there is going to be plenty of reason for fear.  Awakening from a nightmare in which Jaguar Paw is warned by one of the wanderers to run, their village is attacked by armed men.  In the enfolding chaos, he lowers his pregnant wife, Seven (Dalia Hernández), into a dry cenote, along with their son, Turtles Run (Carlos Emilio Báez).  Jaguar Paw returns to the fight, only to see his father killed in front of him.  The rest, along with Blunted and Jaguar Paw, are captured and marched away.  They endure a trek of a couple days until they reach the outskirts of a city.  It is evident as they walk through and closer to the center of town that there is a lot wrong in the kingdom.  Crops are failing and many are starving, doing so in order to prop up the nobility.  There is a pause as the women are sold into slavery, but the men are taken to the top of a temple where other captives are being sacrificed, one after another.  I will spare you the graphic details.  The stated purpose for this gruesome display is to appease the gods and ensure the survival of the Mayan civilization, not that this matters to the victims.  As it comes time for Jaguar Paw to go under the knife, he has a vision of Seven at the bottom of the pit beckoning him to return to her.  With that, he tells Blunted that he is not dying today, and as that is about to happen anyway, an eclipse occurs.  The Mayan priest doing the sacrifice, as well as their king, take this as a sign from their gods and they tell Zero Wolf (Raoul Trujillo) to dispose of the rest of the sacrifices.  For sport, Jaguar Paw and his companions are taken to a field and, two-by-two, are told to run towards the cornfield at the other end beyond which is the jungle.  As they make their dash, there are arrows and spears being launched at them, with Cut Rock (Ricardo Díaz Mendoza), Zero Wolf’s son, waiting to cut down the survivors.  Jaguar Paw is felled by an arrow as he is almost to Cut Rock.  Yet, it is only a wound, and Jaguar Paw uses the arrowhead to kill Cut Rock.  Naturally, Zero Wolf is infuriated and vows to skin Jaguar Paw alive.  Hence, a chase commences back in the direction they came.  Despite signs warning them against a pursuit, such as when an actual jaguar mauls one of Zero Wolf’s gang, they stay after Jaguar Paw.  The nearer they come to Jaguar Paw’s village, the more of Zero Wolf’s men die.  As they reach their destination, it starts to rain heavily, which is a problem for Seven, Turtles Run, and their new child born in the middle of this drama.  Jaguar Paw’s adversaries are down to three, but he takes care of Zero Wolf by springing the same trap that felled the tapir, though taking an arrow in the shoulder for his trouble.  The last two follow Jaguar Paw onto the beach where they are surprised to find the Spanish landing at that location.  While the others are distracted, he returns to the cenote to retrieve his family.  The final scene sees the survivors looking down on the Spanish ships.  Seven wonders if they should go to them, but Jaguar Paw says that you will go into the forest to begin again.

You might be wondering if Apocalyto is a short movie given the brevity of my synopsis as compared to other reviews.  It is actually a little over two hours in length.  I do not have much to say about it by way of description because it features two lengthy travel sequences.  I could tell you every little aspect of their trek, but that would be tedious.  What is worth noting is the quote at the beginning: “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”  These are the words of historian and philosopher William Durant, though his name is shorted to W. Durant in the film for some reason.  In any case, they serve as a primer for what you are about to see.  For fear of putting a colonial spin on the film, the suggestion, since it is coming from Gibson, is that they are not treating each other in a Christian manner.  It is true that Catholic missionaries then, and the Church today, detest the practice of human sacrifice as a gross offense to the dignity of all human beings.  The film wants you to think that the Mayan thirst for blood was their undoing, not the environmental factors or the arrival of the Spanish.  Historically, these events diverge in time quite a bit, but that is a separate discussion.  What I would prefer to focus on how Mayan beliefs could be an indication of the existence of God.  For better or worse, this is something Catholic missionaries have done over the centuries.  An example from the film is when you see prayers to “Gentle Ixchel.  Tender mother of mercy.”  The comparison to be made is to Mary, the mother of God, who has as one of her titles, “Mother of Mercy.”  Another comes when Zero Wolf’s band kills the jaguar.  One of the warriors asks for forgiveness for their “trespass” against one of the jungle’s sons.  This sort of language is found in the Lord’s prayer.  Again, I am not the first person to point out these similarities, and neither was Gibson.  What I hope can be understood is that God is an answer for such tidbits of inspiration.

At the same time, I am not sure I would inspire you to watch Apocalypto.  It is pretty bloody and violent.  I am also not sure it has a happy ending.  Sure, Jaguar Paw saves his family, but you also have the impending destruction of the Spanish.  Between this and the inaccuracies, this one is a pass.