| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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|
| Direction: |
A |
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|
| Visuals: |
A |
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|
Stunning performance by 1st-time actors!
by RabbitA (movies profile)
Jul 28, 2007
79
of
90 people found this review helpful
Rather than critique the story, I just want to applaud the performances of the actors, many of them 1st-timers. Rudy Youngblood (Jaguar Paw) is such a natural-- he gives such a deep-hearted, 110% performance that you forget he's Rudy Youngblood. Jonathan Brewer also stands out in giving his all to his character, Blunted (I only wish his character had more resolution). The novice bit-part actors and extras were absolutely incredible as well, totally throwing themselves into each of their roles.
As for veterans, Raoul Trujillo as Zero Wolf goes above and beyond to make his character complex and full of substance. He's not just a one-dimensional 'evil villain' as a lesser actor might have portrayed. Rather, I'd venture to say he's the equal of Jaguar Paw's father-- a man without fear and with a deep sense of duty. But he's become more of a product of his 'civilization' whereas Jaguar Paw's father is from a society where community and self-sacrifice are central.
Rodolfo Palacios also creates a memorable character in Snake Ink, revealing that the warrior's particular cruelty stems from cowardice to the point of almost being absurd. Somehow this makes him seem more human (?!). Not an easy feat to accomplish for any actor.
Finally, the makeup and much of the costuming for Apocaplyto was just brilliant-- so painstaking and complete for every extra that you can only imagine the amount of dedication that went into it. This was one of the few films I've seen with large period crowd scenes that didn't look obviously CG-created-- this seems to have been done old-school style, and the pay-off is tops. |
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