By Amy Magro
What's scarier: watching a man get his face ripped off by a jaguar or looking at Mel Gibson's mug shot?
Despite Gibson's drunken arrest and anti-Semitic tirade, it didn't stop his latest blockbuster "Apocalypto" from fighting and conquering the No.,”
What's scarier: Watching a man get his face ripped off by a jaguar or looking at Mel Gibson's mug shot?
Gibson's drunken arrest and anti-Semitic tirade didn't stop his latest blockbuster, "Apocalypto," from fighting and conquering the No. 1 spot the weekend it opened.
The movie led the box office with three-day ticket sales of $14.2 million – a modest sum in comparison with the $84 million Gibson's last movie, 2004's "The Passion of the Christ," dragged in. Still, 14 mil isn't bad, considering just six months earlier the director told the world what he really felt about Jewish people after operating a motor vehicle completely inebriated.
"Apocalypto" is a dramatic action adventure that takes place in the Mayan civilization just before the Spanish conquered Mexico in the 16th century. The Mayan kingdom is at the height of its power, but leaders are convinced that unless more temples are built and more human sacrifices made, the crops and the people will suffer for it.
Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is a peaceful hunter with a pregnant wife and young child of his own. His remote village is raided and lucky Jaguar Paw is chosen as a sacrifice to appease the gods.
Jaguar Paw manages to take his wife and son to safety before being taken away to an untimely and unwanted death. Yet he remains determined to escape, and his efforts pay off. As he tries to make it back to his village to his family, he is tracked by a sadistic group of Mayans who will hunt him until he is dead.
In order to rescue his family, Jaguar Paw must elude the most powerful warriors of the Mayan kingdom by using his knowledge of the forest in order to evade those who would rather see him dead than free.
Gibson shot the movie in Mexico, and from the mountains to the trees to the rivers, the scenery is beautiful and breathtaking. The choice of unknown actors and subtitles for a little-known language allows the viewer to get lost in the story. The movie runs more than two hours.
"Apocalypto" is being shown at the Varsity Theatre on Friday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at 6 and 9 p.m.
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