The woolly mammoth has been resurrected for an epic stampede on the big screen in Director Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC. Unfortunately it is the film, not the animal, that should be put on the extinct species list.
Emmerich's newest cinematic endeavor has all the right ingredients to make it one of the greatest movies in years, but it falls short in almost every heartbreaking way. While watching the movie, one can only imagine what could have been.
The Day After Tomorrow, Emmerich's last big film, made a crucial decision to cast little known actors in the film, a move that has become very popular in Hollywood recently. Despite the trend, it was a costly mistake for an epic blockbuster such as this.
Lead roles were given to Steven Strait (The Covenant) as the mammoth hunter D'Leh and Camilla Belle (When a Stranger Calls) as the love of his life, Evolet. After Evolet and many members of their tribe are kidnapped and taken to a far away land, D'Leh is forced to embark on a quest to rescue his people and fulfill the prophecy set out for them.
While the plot might look good on paper, it falls flat on screen and turns out to be just another run-of-the-mill hero story. The end result was made worse by weak acting and poor dialogue across the board.
Watching Strait is uninteresting and uninspiring; he may have the look of a hero, but lacks the emotions and speech.
Unfortunately for Belle, the story never allows Evolet to develop. She only speaks about three times in the entire film and she certainly isn't given any colorful speeches. It's safe to say that neither actor rises above mediocrity in this movie.
There are times when the dialogue reaches borderline moronic levels. Their unnecessary accents are just plain silly and take away from the seriousness surrounding the characters' journey.
Thankfully, 10,000 BC is not a complete failure as the production level ends up a marginal success. If what Emmerich wanted was to captivate landscapes and visual effects to create an immersive prehistoric setting, that's exactly what he accomplished. The woolly mammoths are stunning to look at and there are enough on screen at once to really get a feel for their monstrous size and power.
Costume design for the movie was also well done, while the make-up is lackluster. At the beginning of the film it's difficult to decipher who is who because everyone is covered in mud and has long hair. Understandably, Emmerich was attempting to give the film a realistic feel, but it makes parts of the film difficult to understand.
The greatest success in the movie, alongside the visuals, is the sound. The soundtrack is fantastic and it rings true with a sense of heroics on a grand scale. Even with a triumphant soundtrack, the film itself can't live up to the epic feeling it should have.
While having a terrible plot and even worse acting, 10,000 BC does manage to grab a few moments of glory. The animals make much of the movie worth tolerating. Adding more conflicts with ancient beasts, such as the saber-toothed tiger and Phorusrhacids (prehistoric carnivorous birds), could have better distracted viewers from the disappointing humans.
Outside of a few scenes, there's simply not enough action to save the film and the end of the story is very predictable, making the two-dimensional plot fall short of this three-dimensional picture.
After months of previews and building hype, it may come as a surprise for many that the film simply does not meet the expectations it set for itself. 10,000 BC is a victim of its own image, an epic story that never comes to fruition.
10,000 BC opens in theatres nationwide Friday, March 7.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
