DankyDank
Well-Known Member
I just went and saw "Apocalypto," the latest Mel Gibson picture. It was easily one of the two best non-indie films I have seen all year (the other being Scorcese's "Departed.") Though the film has gotten plenty of good reviews, it has also gotten some extremely negative ones from liberal critics. Here are a few thoughts and observations after having viewed the film:
1) The level and quantity of violence in the film has been grossly overstated. The violence depicted is neither gratuitous nor excessive.
2) One critic (I think it was LaSalle from the SF Chronicle) went as far as to say that the film was evidence of Gibson's mental illness; he went on to say that the level of violence depicted forced the question of wether Gibson was outright "crazy." This is idiotic. No critic would dare question the mental stability of Martin Scorcese based on the level of violence in Taxi Driver or Goodfellas.
3) It is easy to surmise why liberal movie (and social) critics would denigrate this film. First, they didn't like his last film, which dealt with the subject of Christ from a traditional perspective. It didn't matter that the film was a masterpiece; the same critics who had wet themselves over Scorcese's misfire dealing with the same subject completely snubbed Gibson's. Second, they are still trying to play up the anti-semetic remarks he made while drunk (nevermind that the remarks accurately reflected the feelings of the majority of Hollywood.) And third, the movie lays to rest any romantic notions that the Americas were a veritable Garden of Eden before Whitey came along and fucked it up.
So check it out- it's definitely a big screen flick. You do need to keep in mind that it is shot in the native language, so if you aren't up to seeing subtitled movies, you will want to skip it...
1) The level and quantity of violence in the film has been grossly overstated. The violence depicted is neither gratuitous nor excessive.
2) One critic (I think it was LaSalle from the SF Chronicle) went as far as to say that the film was evidence of Gibson's mental illness; he went on to say that the level of violence depicted forced the question of wether Gibson was outright "crazy." This is idiotic. No critic would dare question the mental stability of Martin Scorcese based on the level of violence in Taxi Driver or Goodfellas.
3) It is easy to surmise why liberal movie (and social) critics would denigrate this film. First, they didn't like his last film, which dealt with the subject of Christ from a traditional perspective. It didn't matter that the film was a masterpiece; the same critics who had wet themselves over Scorcese's misfire dealing with the same subject completely snubbed Gibson's. Second, they are still trying to play up the anti-semetic remarks he made while drunk (nevermind that the remarks accurately reflected the feelings of the majority of Hollywood.) And third, the movie lays to rest any romantic notions that the Americas were a veritable Garden of Eden before Whitey came along and fucked it up.
So check it out- it's definitely a big screen flick. You do need to keep in mind that it is shot in the native language, so if you aren't up to seeing subtitled movies, you will want to skip it...
