Apocalypto is a 2006 movie directed by Mel Gibson. It takes place in an unspecified time in Mayan history, although strangely, it has both the cities of the classical era, and the conquistadors arriving at the end, which is a huge in accuracy, as those events are 600 years apart. Apocalypto basically feels like a Mayan version of Die Hard. It follows a villager named Jaguar’s Paw, who is the sole survivor of a Mayan attack on his village, and must consequently evade his pursuers through the jungle.

This is a very unique movie. It tried to present a historically accurate experience, and it succeeds in some aspects, but fails in others. In the movie, they actually speak the correct Yucatan dialogue, however, the movie also implies that the Mayan empire will end very soon after the Spanish arrive, when in reality, if the Spanish had just arrived like the movie shows, then it would’ve taken almost 200 years for the Mayans to fall.

Historical nitpicking aside, this movie is ok. It’s very entertaining to watch, and it has some great scenes, but the movie just lacks anything beyond some surface level entertainment. Still, it’s a fun, if not brutal at times, movie to watch. There are some very unique scenes, such as depictions of the Mayan religion, and the human sacrifice that comes with it.

But beyond the uniqueness of the setting and the brutality that this movie exhibits, there really isn’t anything. Ironically, It takes a lot of risks with it’s setting, but basically none with it’s script. Once you remove the Mayan layer of paint on this movie, it’s just a standard man vs everyone film, and that’s probably this movie’s greatest weakness.

Despite that, I still liked Apocalypto. It’s a fun movie to watch, if you can handle some of the intense scenes. If you’re interested in history, and don’t mind movie depictions not always being accurate, then I’d recommend apocalypto.