Gibson crafts near perfect action movie

Say what you will about Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic ravings and positively batty television news-magazine interviews. The man is a born filmmaker. Even my own professed secularism won't prevent me from praising "The Passion of the Christ" as a blood-soaked masterstroke, and no overcooked media circus could've kept me from seeing "Apocalypto" on opening night.\nThe story focuses squarely on Jaguar Paw, played with muted ferocity by newcomer Rudy Youngblood, as he is kidnaped along with the rest of his villagers and taken to be sold or sacrificed. Set amongst a painstakingly recreated Mayan landscape -- and spoken entirely in Yucatec Mayan dialect -- "Apocalypto" shifts into fifth gear before and especially after Jaguar Paw escapes his captors, racing against time and enemy to save his pregnant wife and young son.\nMuch has been made of Gibson's penchant for gore, but, while "Apocalypto" boasts many a cringe-worthy money shot, it's certainly tamer than "The Passion." Still, the film isn't designed for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, especially during its last half, when the pace of the action matches the frequency of blood-letting. The gauntlet of obstacles awaiting Jaguar Paw and his pursuers on the way back to the village of the film's opening scenes is pure horror movie material, and Raoul Trujillo's performance as Jaguar Paw's primary pursuer, Zero Wolf, is one of pure, predatory madness.\nWhat Gibson has fashioned here -- and I commend him for doing so -- is a near-perfect action film: light on story and message, all frenetic pacing and finely tuned chase-scene choreography. Those who mine for a message might unearth some sort of warning about society's unfailing ability to destroy itself from within, but I found Gibson saving the only truly sobering scene for last, impressively depicting nothing less than the exact moment when Mayan society and culture was doomed to extinction.