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10,000 B.C.
In theaters March 7th 2008
sequences of intense action and violence
Run Time: 109
Matt's rating - 2 out of 5
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Review by Matt Mungle
How can you judge a film that deals with a time period
we know little or nothing about? The same way you
judge a film that deals with aliens attacking, animals
who talk, or women who are president. You deal with it
from how good a story it is and not on plausibility. In
the new film 10,000 BC you have a pretty decent plot
and fairly intriguing effects, but line after line of cheesy
dialogue. This latter element negates the prior two
making a film that you just can't take seriously or enjoy
totally. The reaction from the audience was one where
we all laughed at the serious parts and rolled our
eyes at the attempts at humor. Everything had a
reverse effect and self destructed. Granted, once that
happened and you deiced to make fun of the film, it
actually becomes more enjoyable. You begin to look
forward to the next thing to make fun of.
Obviously we know the era this takes place from the
title. Everything else is vague. We find this small tribe
of hunters who are trying hard to survive in their frozen
mountain village. Once a year they hunt the huge
mammoths that troupe through then wait a year for
them to come back. When a group of slave marauders
attacks their village and hauls off members of the
camp it is up to one young warrior to rescue them. His
journey to free his people leads him though snowy
subzero mountains, into a tepid Amazon type jungle
with Ostriches that attack like Raptors. Then they are
in the desert. So, not sure where they are, but again
the time period allows the writer to create whatever
world he wants. It is odd but does not take away from
the film. The script does that all on its own.
The point of the story is not bad at all. You have a
young warrior trying to become a man and over come
family obstacles. His major objective is to save the girl
he has loved from youth who has been carted away as
well. So he is part Moses part William Wallace part
Tomb Raider. So the adventure portion of the movie is
not too bad. The main issue was the script. I would
have preferred the entire movie be grunts and
caveman dialect with English or no subtitles. That
would have been better than seeing these prehistoric
tribes who speak English and some with European
accents. That made the delivery even that much more
comical. As I mentioned, once you start making fun of
the film you relax more and enjoy the ride. The ending
is epic in look and feel and makes up for the first 2/3's
of the film.
10,000 B.C. is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense
action and violence. The action and violence are in the
vain of Lord of the Rings though much milder. Again,
take this movie for what it is. If you go into it with very
low expectations you will probably get a kick out of it. If
you go in expecting some grand adventure of site and
sound you will be highly disappointed. It is roughly an
hour and a half long so it is doable if you know what to
expect. But for the price of theater tickets what they are,
it might be worth passing over. I only give 10,000 B.C.
2 out of 5 press on nails.
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Matt and Cindy are members of the North Texas
Film
Critics Association (NTFCA). For additional
reviews
and interview clips visit the website.
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Mungleshow Productions
Matt Mungle
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