Al, it's a bad sign when
The Post agrees with me!
Truth be told, I was really hoping that Gibson had cleaned up his action. My query to Tom above was just that, me looking for feedback on the film. I've since read some reviews of the pic, and I'm gonna pass on this one. BTW, if some of those same reviewers like the movie, I suspect it's because "the good guy" is a pacifist (rather than the fellas with the weapons).
I saw part of it on cable, I believe. I'm no expert on the subject, but it may not be possible to depict human-sacrifice in a non-controversial manner. When it comes to the portrayal of indigenous peoples, theres's no doing them justice with a knife in their hand...unless of course the guy on the receiving end is a European or Creole.
In its representation of a world where life was "nasty, poor, brutish and short" (Thomas Hobbes), however, my biggest complaint with Apocolypto was that it had a mercifully, if highly unlikely, HAPPY ENDING.
-Moe