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Apocalypto
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Metascore
68 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 339 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Dalia Hernández, Rudy Youngblood
  • Summary: A heart stopping mythic action-adventure set against the turbulent end times of the once great Mayan civilization. (Touchstone)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 37
  3. Negative: 2 out of 37
  1. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    100
    For those of us who prefer to judge Gibson solely in terms of his art, the movie is a virtuosic piece of action cinema -- particularly in its second half...And while there has been no shortage of recent films that decry the horrors of war and man's inhumanity to his fellow man, I know of none other quite this sickeningly powerful.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    60
    Dextrous with the action-adventure elements but clumsy in its handling of the central message, Apocalypto is a strange but largely entertaining mix of action, bloodletting, chin-rubbing and arthouse trimmings.
  3. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    The movie is so impressionistic, it obfuscates any sense of history. We expect at least a hint at the causes of the Mayan Empire's demise, but instead we get Mesoamerican Rambo.

See all 37 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 139 out of 190
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 190
  3. Negative: 42 out of 190
  1. Scraper
    10
    The things you see in this movie are heavy, highly detailed, intense, and exist in a realm that most filmmakers can't go-such as using genocide as a plot device in a non-documentary piece. Very real feelings electrify this movie.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. KevinB
    5
    Unfortunately, I have to agree with other reviews when they say it's basically slight remakes of Braveheart and Passion. The only reason I give this a 5 is because of the chase scene. Very well done. Had me on the edge of my seat. But the rest however was just a dull feeling of watching TV on a Sunday night when nothings on.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. EthanP.
    2
    The logic in this crapfest was so half-baked that it's a wonder there were no random cuts to 1970s porn. [***Spoilers***]: Anyone who has played hide and seek should wonder why it's possible to hide in one's best friend's back yard for half an hour without being found, but it's impossible for a forest-wise Mayan to find reasonable cover *anywhere in the entire Mayan land,* without, of course, letting a single splash of blood fall just as your nemesis runs under your tree-top hiding place so that it may later be discovered and immediately ascertained by one of your cohorts that the blood must be from you and that you must be hiding in the trees. Because even though those cohorts have just been party to bloody sacrifice, any one of them will easily spot a drop of blood and know for sure that it's from you and your tree-hiding. Run in a straight line for 48 hours(!), and only when we do this scene with the arrows pointing directly at you should you run back and forth in an evasive way. But the arrows will still eventually hit you and all your friends. Because these are skilled Mayan bad guys, until certain scenes in which they've decided not to throw any sharp objects in your direction, which coincidentally occur when you've stopped your running to look back and ponder/taunt your rivals and would be putting yourself in imminent danger had the evil Mayans not decided that it would be a good moment to cease fire and just look at you. And, by the way, they all run at the same pace as you, which happens to be the exact pace at which a jaguar runs. And during a downpour so bad that it fills a good-sized pit faster than a swimming pool, European dingies remain fully afloat.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes

See all 190 User Reviews

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