Director Roland Emmerich stands synonimous for blockbuster films. Visually imposing action over complex plot. But his latest film isn’t just poorly written, the entire filmmaking craft behind it is deficient.

In a prehistoric mountain area a tribe of mammoth hunters is faced with extinction when it is attacked by warriors of an advanced civilization. Most of the tribe’s men and the village beauty Evolet (Camilla Belle) are taken captive and deported - except for D’Leh (Steven Strait), who is destined to save them and lead the tribe to new glory. Together with the tribe’s retiring leader Tic’tic (Cliff Curtis), D’Leh tracks the captors over vast distances, befriending other tribes along the way. Having experienced similar raides, they join his cause - but arriving in ancient Egypt and seeing their people forced into slavery by a powerful cult, D’Leh’s forces may not be strong enough after all.

Prophecies in films (and stories in general) can be a problematic device. If used well, they don’t take away the suspense of how a film will end, but make the story more about the journey towards that end, focusing on the terms and consequences of having that initial prophecy fulfilled. But if employed poorly, such foretellings of a character’s destiny not only ruin the suspense. In the case of ‘10′000 B.C.’, prophecies are used as a cheap gimmick for characterization: D’Leh may look weak and useless, but he’s got ample amounts of - prophesized - hidden strength inside. 

‘10′000 B.C’ is a coming-of-age story at heart. It’s about a young man who has to discard his shameful past and learn how to take on responsibility. It’s an archetypical tale about the outcast turning into the leader. Many such stories start with a prophecy - it’s one of the most popular narrative devices in the fantasy genre, harking back to myths in antique texts. It is unfortunately also a device that ‘10′000 B.C.’ reduces to absurdity: It’s not just the Yagai (D’Leh’s tribe) who have a prophecy, it’s also every single tribe he encounters on his journey right up to his enemies. Each such prophecy has unique attributes, but each conveniently points to D’Leh. D’Leh frees a trapped sabretooth; the next day he is heralded as the leader of an African savannah tribe who, we learn, have an age-old prophecy about ”the man who speaks with the sabretooth”. 

Pointing out these weaknesses of the plot one must of course take into account that we’re talking about the new film by Roland Emmerich here. Emmerich is the impossibly successful director (and writer) of such mega-blockbusters as ‘Stargate’, ‘Independence Day’, ‘Godzilla’ and ‘The Day After Tomorrow’. All of which are films that put action over script, spectacular set pieces over complex stories. Still, in the case of his newest film it has to be pointed out that Emmerich manages to blunder even his most simplistic plot - with redundant and irritating subplots (mostly involving the tribe’s spiritual eldest) which conclude in literally the most unbelievable climax. And will have you groaning with incredulity.

Of course, as a viewer going to the movies to switch of your brain for a while and enjoy a good time, you may be able to generously look past these weaknesses of script. As mentioned, this is the new Emmerich playing, not an arthouse picture. Regrettably, even those seeking the cheap thrills of heroic action will feel let down. During the first scenes it becomes immediately and shockingly apparent that the film looks terrible: the make-up seems applied by kids and the sets and costumes pieced together from discarded bits and pieces of other costumes, bigger sets. Emmerich may stand synonymous for disregardable plots, but certainly not for cheap aesthetics. The disappointment that hits leaves no gaps.

The initially catastrophic cinematography just adds to the problem. You know you’re in for trouble seeing just the opening shots of some white mountain ranges. Every film with establishing shots of snow-covered mountains will invariably evoke comparisons with similar shots in the Lord of the Rings films. And fade next to the latter’s majesty and sublimeness, unless you’ve got a really great or at least innovative cinematographer at work. Everyone’s seen The Lord of the Rings so everyone will (sub-)consciously make these comparisons. And Emmerich’s director of photography, Ueli Steiger, is neither a great nor an especially innovative cameraman.

During many of the film’s big set pieces, the pure experience of the action is marred by Steiger’s shoddy camerawork. Not only do his shots lack any sort of aesthetic to the point that they look ugly, very often it’s plain difficult to look at the action at all. Close-ups in the wrong moments (like in the midst of ultra-fast cuts), fighting characters filmed through bushes and plants - following the action in ‘10′000 B.C.’ can prove a nightmarish task. The visual side of the film is appreciably improved in the final third of the movie, when D’Leh arrives at the site of the Egyptian pyramids. (The journey there, however, takes the viewer through the strangest sort of topography: from icy mountain ranges through adjacent tropical forests over wide savannahs and desert dunes.)

The bigger scope of the new locale lends itself to some nice wide shots overlooking the construction of the pyramids, and the warm desert colours considerably help the film’s look. The absence of distracting props on the expansive desert sets also makes for action sequences that are easier on the eye. Further more, wide camera angles are the only way to appreciate the film’s special effects, as the computer-generated artistry of the many creatures (mammoths, sabretooths, and some sort of veloceraptor-cousins) doesn’t hold up under close inspection.

The film’s principle cast doesn’t manage to stand elevated above this general misery. Steven Strait (D’Leh) and Camilla Belle (Evolet) are young, and their lack of experience takes its toll in their failure to carry this sort of big budget production with their acting performances. The only mature role of any weight went - in a malignant twist - to seasoned actor Cliff Curtis (’Sunshine’, ‘Live Free or Die Hard’), who’s range of facial expressions competes with that of Nicolas Cage.

‘10′000 B.C.’ was never going to be a great film, but it sadly didn’t even turn out to be a good or at least watchable blockbuster. Millions of dollars must have been blown into the wind since the film mostly lacks any sort of grand-looking visuals or breathtaking set pieces. And just as the look and the action improves towards the end, the film’s trivial plot takes a turn for the ridiculous and hits the final nail in its coffin.

Posted by Tai in Movies, Reviews • Add to del.icio.us Add to Digg