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 10,000 BC, the first exciting dramatic adventure
flick for 2008, has arrived and it’s an earth-shaking winner. The film hits the bull’s eye for its action-addict target audience. I loved the
blend of mythical fantasy and historical implication in 10,000 BC’s
captivating storyline.
It’s
a time when African lands, populated with many cultures and civilizations, are
being harvested into slavery by the tyrannical Egyptian ‘God’ to build the
great pyramids. In a far-off village at
the foothills of a large mountain range, the community seer has seen the coming
of the four-legged demons that have pillaged neighboring towns, capturing the
males and destroying villages.Â
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Rated: PG-13
Starring: Steven Strait, Camilla Belle, Cliff Curtis, Omar Shariff
Director: Roland Emmerich
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When young Evolet, a blue-eyed girl from a neighboring
village, staggers into their hovel, the seer predicts the village will be invaded
after the next big hunt. The group’s leader, not wanting to wait for the
prophecy to come about, sets out to find the source of the demons.
Gone for some years, his son D’Leh
(Strait) has grown to be a strong member of the tribe. He wins leadership
during the prophesied hunt and takes Evolet
(Belle) for his bride. When the
demon raid comes true and the captors drag Evolet with them, D’Leh sets out to
bring her back from the eye of the demon.
Writer/Director Emmerich continues
to bring action, drama and adventure to the screen with vision for his techno
target audience. With Independence
Day we fought aliens, in Godzilla it was an irradiated lizard monster
and in The Day After Tomorrow we lived through world disaster, here he
gives us his historical look at man evolving into strong fighting units to
defeat oppression.
The acting is not what you go to
see in 10,000 BC, although it was above standard. The characters, mammoths, saber tooth tiger
and the things that jump out of the bushes are what captured my attention. That, brought about by a combination of the
visual effects with captivating photography depicting an African desert,
snowcap mountains and flatlands by cinematographer Ueli Steiger, made it all
believable for me. His eagle eye views of the fighting sequences, CGI and
cinematic mix, are heart-stopping yet magnificent.
The mammoth hunt shows the amazing power of
computer-generated images. When D’Leh
and the other hunters chase the mammoths into a ravine in order to separate the
bull from the rest of the group, the computer makes it real. When the bull
mammoth turns to attack you can see every hair and wrinkle on its huge body as
it charges at D’Leh. One CGI spectacle after the other in the film continued to
amaze me to the very end’s culminating clash.
I was blown away by how advanced technology has progressed.
FINAL ANALYSIS: 10,000 BC is
an amazing dramatic adventure that’s captivating and powerful. It’s a must-see for action lovers.
This Reviewer's Rating:   4 / 5Â
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