Apocalypto: The most audacious, bonkers blockbuster of the noughties comes to TVNZ+

Apocalypto (16+, 132mins) Directed by Mel Gibson ****

How do you top the “ultimate” action movie? That was the problem facing writer-director Mel Gibson after his 2004 interpretation of the last hours of Jesus Christ’s life (The Passion of the Christ) defied controversy and criticism to become a box-office smash.

His answer was to give himself an even bigger challenge: shoot an historical epic in the Mexican jungle with a cast of complete unknowns, again using a language spoken only by a small percentage of the world’s population.

Then, just to make it an even harder sell, Mad Mel went on a bender before Apocalypto’s release in 2006, finding himself once again in trouble with Jewish groups and the law – despite his sweet compliments to one officer.

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Although Apocalypto’s overall focus is on the last days of the Mayan Empire in the 16th century, it is actually the tale of young tribesman Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood). His peaceful life is shattered by an attack on his village by the marauding Holcane warriors.

Saving his young family by hurriedly lowering them into a pit, Jaguar Paw then has to endure the sight of his father’s death before he is captured. Taken to a nearby city, Jaguar Paw and his colleagues are facing the prospect of being sold into slavery – or becoming a human sacrifice. However, he is determined that he will see his family once again.

Like Passion and Braveheart before it, Apocalypto is not an easy watch. Gibson doesn’t shy away from historical violence and there is plenty of skin broken, claret spilt and innards exposed here (plus more than enough animal action to annoy RSPCAs and their equivalents the world over).

However, as brutal and bloody as his films may be, they also make for bravura and bewitching cinema. There are plenty of images that will be burned into your memory by Apocalypto – children separated from their elders by a river, a sick girl kept at arm’s length by a stick.

Embracing the freedom and naturalism that digital cameras can afford, Gibson keeps his film constantly on the move, mixing low and overhead shots, close-ups and wide angles, with impressive results. Dean Semler’s (Dances With Wolves) superb cinematography also has the effect of making the lush, dense jungle feel dangerous and deadly.

Instead of his usual shrouds of fog and shadow, Gibson’s film is also mostly played out in perpetual sunlight, but that doesn’t stop some of his characters’ actions and motives being pitch black.

Yes, Apocalypto does suffer from the Dances With Wolves’ syndrome, where one tribe is vilified and seen as irredeemably evil (the Holcane are the 2006 version of Wolves’ Pawnee). Unsurprisingly, this has outraged some of their descendants.

The second-half is also much better than the ponderous first, and originality or unpredictability are not its strongest assets (although perhaps given the film’s sense of fatalism, that could be the point).

As well as familiar elements and themes from Gibson’s earlier films (composer James Horner appears to merely tweak his Braveheart score), Apocalypto has passages that will remind regular cinemagoers of Planet of the Apes (a chase through a cornfield), The Fugitive (waterfall and a lead chaser who looks like Tommy Lee Jones) and Crocodile Dundee 2 (using local knowledge to outwit an enemy).

But what Gibson does well is seamlessly mix genres. From anthropological comedy (complete with universal mother-in-law jokes) to action, western to drama, even some (David) Lynchian surrealism, tonal shifts are carefully managed and adroitly handled.

At times relentless, Apocalypto is a reminder of how good Vincent Ward’s much-maligned and troubled-in-production River Queen a year earlier could have been – and what can happen when a director is given full reign to realise his vision.

A film for the passionate, brave of heart and strong of stomach.

In Maya with English subtitles, Apocalypto is now available to stream on TVNZ+.