Unseen Movie Review: Apocalypto

By Robert Dixter Dec 5, 2006, 0:15 GMT

From Academy Award winning filmmaker Mel Gibson ("The Passion of The Christ," "Braveheart"), comes "Apocalypto": a heart stopping mythic action-adventure set against the turbulent end times of the once great Mayan civilization. When his idyllic existence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, a man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrowing end awaits him. Through a twist of ...more

There were only 2 things I wanted really badly when I was in high school.  The first was to finally get hair on my chest so I could walk around with four buttons undone on my shirt, the second was to see ‘Lethal Weapon.’ I never did see ‘Lethal Weapon’ in the theater since it was rated R and my parents felt that such violence is better experienced on television in the home. 

Over the years I have always enjoyed Mel Gibson’s films. I thought ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ was better than the first and I was blown away by ‘Braveheart.’  Even his more trivial films like ‘Maverick’ and ‘Payback’ seemed like a night of doing ex-lax shots.

Fun while you were doing it but usually left you with an empty feeling later.

However in all his films, Mel never really seems like he’s acting. It always seemed like his real boisterous personality that you could watch in interviews coming through on the screen.  You tell me if you see a difference in his performances in ‘Conspiracy,’ ‘Maverick,’ ‘Payback’ or even ‘What Women Want?’

I’m not saying that’s bad. In fact most Hollywood celebrities have made careers out of their true personalities and playing the same character over and over again. Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone and Elmo (really, that little red guy has no range whatsoever).

But little did the unsuspecting public realize that Mel’s true character would shine through when he was arrested for drunk driving and went into a crazed rant about how Jews were responsible for starting all the wars.  At first I thought I could separate the man from the art, because even though Mel always plays the same character on screen, when he directs films he has a very sure idea of what he wants and is very talented in this area. 

And I wanted to continue to enjoy watching his movies. In the past celebrities’ actions have never bothered me to the point of boycotting their works.

I was upset when Woody Allen started dating Soon Yi and thought it was very creepy to say the least, but I could always put it outside my mind when I was watching his movies. 

I can’t seem to do that with Mel.

Over the past few months whenever I come across a Mel Gibson movie on TV I change the channel. It used to be that whenever I came across ‘Braveheart’ or ‘Payback’ I would get sucked in and end up watching at least a half hour of the film. Now I just change over to whatever the Tennis Network is showing (amazing isn’t it?  A while network devoted to tennis and balls).

This week Disney is releasing Mel Gibson’s ‘Apocalypto,’ and the advance buzz on the film is that it’s pretty good.  But I won’t be seeing it and I’m sure a lot of other people won’t be seeing it either based simply on Mel’s drunken outburst.

I would have thought that after such a dumb public display of hatred on Mel’s part, Disney would have been smarter than to sell the film as ‘Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto.’

Why are they pushing his name so much for the film?  Do they think that the crowds that turned out for ‘Passion of the Christ’ will think this is the sequel? 

Passion brought in audiences who wanted to see that particular subject matter, they won’t follow a filmmaker on to his next movie unless that movie was called ‘Passion 2: More Christ.’

Disney is trying to sell a movie by an anti-Semite (Hey Patrick Swayze and Dean Devlin, I don’t care what you say. If Mel is yelling about Jews starting wars he’s an anti-Semite) that has no stars and is not in English. 

The funny thing is that the only person who loses in this whole equation is Disney.

They’ve backed a turkey for a film while Mel is still living off the fortune he made from ‘Passion of the Christ’ and apparently if you watch the arrest film drinking enough booze to make Peter O’Toole stop and say “Wow, now that’s a party”.