I think we can all agree that the drunken, anti-Semitic rant that director Mel Gibson went on this summer was a horrible judgment call, and was a cry for help for Gibson’s sobriety, can't we?

Good, now that we got out of the way, let’s talk about the Mayan-era epic “Apocalypto”.

The violent epic about the beginning of the end of the Mayan civilization is visually impressive; twisting and turning its way into an entertaining action flick that makes up for the fact there is absolutely no English spoken throughout (an ancient Mayan dialect was used).

The story starts with Jaguar Paw (Youngblood) and his tribesmen hunting, and enjoying what is a primitive, but enjoyable existence. Without much warning, rival warriors demolish and pillage Paw’s village. After having to watch his father die in front of his eyes, Paw and other tribesmen are captured and enslaved and prepped for sacrifice at an Mayan stronghold.

When it is Paw’s time to be sacrificed, an eclipse takes place, suddenly having the evil tribe to believe that Paw is a curse to their way of life. Eventually Paw escapes, with the mission to get back to his wife and child, but trials and pitfalls comes his way. From there, the movie takes a more conventional cat and mouse turn and takes off from there.

“Acocalypto” starts off a little slow, but the last half of the movie ups the violence and revenge factor. During most of the journey to the Mayan pyramid sequence, you get the feeling Gibson is setting us up for another one of his really somber and hopeless tales. Towards the end, the movie becomes a little more optimistic while briefly foreshadowing future woes most indigenous people would deal with during that time.

The actors do a good job assimilating to the Mayan language, which has been dead since the extinction of the culture centuries ago. They are able to use the language, without it sounding chopped up and ineffective. The actual acting is fine, but nothing spectacular as Youngblood shows the most promise of the group. Even with the so-so acting, the visuals of the culture and the action sequences make up for the slight downfalls of the movie.

Gibson has become hellbent on making every movie more violent than the next. After watching the stomach churning and mind-numbing mega-hit “Passion of the Christ”, the violence “Apocalypto” seems on par, if not more grotesque than the previously mentioned movie.

The violence doesn’t seem as shocking this time though, due to the reputation of the culture and their somewhat savage ways. After watching Jesus Christ get whipped and beaten to death for two and a half hours in “Passion”, almost anything else is a relief.

The heat Gibson brought on himself will hinder the success “Apocalypto” a bit, and will keep it from even coming even remotely close to the box office gross of “Passion”. But the Mayans were not the hot button topic of “Passion”, so this will bring less of the casual moviegoer out. But if you want a satisfying look into the Mayan culture, “Apocalypto” will fit the bill well.

GRADE: B