10,000 B.C. Film Review
Stargate Director’s New Flick Dishes Plot As Prehistoric As Mammoths
10,000B.C. is an enjoyable but forgettable film. While the movie may have happened in a time before history, it's too bad the plot was developed around the same time.
In his new film, 10,000 B.C., director Roland Emmerich goes back in time to explore the struggles of the modern-day cave dweller.
With such epic movies as The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Independence Day (1996) and Stargate (1994) under his belt, expectations for this new project were high.
Sadly, 10,000 B.C suffers from the same tragic flaw as other recent releases such as Jumper – too much focus on the special effects, too little concern for character development and plot.
10,000 B.C. A Prehistoric Love Story
Emmerich’s new film is billed as a “prehistoric epic that follows a young mammoth hunter's journey through uncharted territory to secure the future of his tribe”.
In truth, 10,000 B.C. serves up the same old love story told over and over since the beginning of time. In this film, the star crossed lovers are orphaned hunter, D’Leh (Steven Strait) and orphaned blue-eyed girl Evolet (Camilla Belle).
Thrown together as kids after Evolet is brought to D’Leh’s village following the brutal slaughter of her tribe, D’Leh professes his love in his very first exchange with her under the stars.
Fast forward 20 years and D’Leh sets out on his first hunt. In order to win Evolet he must slay a Mammoth, which he does more out of luck than courage, and they live happily ever after – at least for a few hours until the village is ransacked and Evolet, along with most of the tribe, is kidnapped and brought to Egypt to build the pyramids.
10,000 B.C. Special Effects
While the plot of the movie wanes, 10,000 B.C. impresses with enough special effects to keep the film moving forward, especially the hunt for the mammoth, the jungle attack of the giant turkeys as well as the stunning scene when the tribes overlook a desert river and see their kidnapped loved ones float away on red-sailed boats.
While entirely enjoyable, it’s hard not to feel a little bitter after the film ends. Along with the paint-by -numbers plot, and his true-love-never-dies sermon, Emmerich stuffs in a few other morals from the time before Christ to preach to the audience, all which become a little hard to swallow.
Through D’Leh, you learn not to lie, and when you do, garner the courage to own up to it or life will be miserable and you’ll be forced to sleep separate from your tribe when the ‘white rain’ begins to fall.
You also learn about the effects of karma -everything you do comes back to you, so it’s a good idea to free that sabre-toothed tiger (who may turn around and eat you, but won’t, on principle) in his time of need, cause you never know when you may be surrounded by a village of hostiles and that tiger becomes your only chance of survival - and the key to your destiny.
If you’re in the mood for mindless entertainment, and the thrill of allowing yourself to be swept away for a few hours on a visually stunning ride, 10,000 B.C. won’t disappoint. If you’re interested in discovering more about pre-historic history – visit the New York Museum of Natural History.
