The woolly mammoth is a large, hairy relative of the modern-day elephant that roamed the northern wastes of Eurasia and went extinct at about 12,000 B.C. The Great Pyramids were ancient Egyptian landmarks used as tombs for the pharaohs and were constructed circa 2,500 B.C.
Given these facts, why did the filmmakers of the movie “10,000 B.C.” find it necessary, much less accurate, to depict woolly mammoths as heavy-load bearers during the construction of the pyramids?
“10,000 BC” is the latest epic action film by director Roland Emmerich, director of “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow.”
The movie follows D’leh, the hunter of a nomadic mountain tribe as he travels from his native homeland to track down slavers who have taken his bride-to-be. What follows is a journey so cliché and inaccuracy-ridden, it is almost impossible to watch for those two reasons alone.
The inaccuracies range from impossible geography and implausible physics and to technology that was developed far beyond 10,000 B.C. and animals that went extinct far before it.
To any person who values a bit of truth in their action films, even if it is normally far fetched, watching this film may prove to be frustratingly difficult.
The clichés are just as bad. The plot as a whole seems to be contrived to begin with. However, when the predictable plot twists start happening, it’s enough to make a man bury his head in his hands.
The pacing of the plot seems a bit uneven, and while the movie does move along quickly, it tends to tarry at parts that don’t seem quite as interesting as they should be. Also, the plot makes the occasional incoherent jump where seemingly many events happen, but the exact amount of time in between the events is unknown.
The special effects are ambitious but fall short. The art direction is above par and at some points downright impressive. However, the execution of the ideas fall quite short, the CGI looks unrealistic, the props look fake and are obviously fabricated.
The quality of the acting is good but hard to judge due to the simplicity of the script. The actors don’t show a wide range of emotions or capabilities, but they are able to play their parts ably and convincingly despite the lack of believability of the film as a whole.
The drawing point of the entire movie, which is the cool action scenes also fall a bit flat, the sequences in and of themselves seem a bit labyrinthine and hard to follow, and with the possible exception of the final scene, the battles are mostly uninspired. The actual action of the movie also takes place few and far between, and only four scenes of any true action merit take place.