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04
December 2006
Good
Reviews For Mel Gibson's
Latest
Early
reviews of
Mel
Gibson's
ancient Mayan epic
Apocalypto have praised
its "blood-and-guts
action", "breathtaking
vistas" and "bruising
beauty".
Mel
Gibson's "remarkable"
film - in which he does
not appear - offers
"hitherto unseen sights
of exceptional vividness
and power", said
Variety.
The
Hollywood Reporter
described it as "a
first-rate epic" while
questioning its
"over-the-top
violence".
Maxim's
Pete Hammond, meanwhile,
said he was "blown away
by the
filmmaking".
Featuring
a cast of unknowns
speaking in the Mayan
language Yucatec,
Apocalypto views the
decline of Mexico's
native
civilisation.
Its
hero is a young native
American, played by
newcomer Rudy
Youngblood, whose
village is attacked by
ruthless Mayan
warriors.
It
is Mel Gibson's first
outing behind the camera
since his controversial
2004 religious epic, The
Passion of the
Christ.
The
film's upcoming release
was overshadowed by its
director's anti-Semitic
outburst during his
drink-driving arrest in
July.
In
an interview this week,
however, Gibson said his
movie - which opens in
the US on 8 December -
would "stand on its
own".
Last
month Rolling Stone
magazine described
Apocalypto as "a
tremendously exciting
chase movie" that was
"breathtaking to
watch".
"The
guy knows how to make a
heart-pounding movie,"
agreed the Hollywood
Reporter's
critic.
All
the reviews have
highlighted the film's
"abundant" blood and
gore, which includes
graphic scenes of human
sacrifice.
Variety,
however, said the
carnage did not feel
"exaggerated or out of
line in relation to the
material".
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