Here is a movie that, for all intents and purposes, should have been fun. There is no reason why it shouldn't have been fun. All of this begs the question: What went wrong? At what point did this old time epic fly off the rails into the realm of the also-rans?
Granted, I did not go in with terribly high expectations, but that doesn't change the fact that in the end, this effort falls short. I will not deny that there were a few moments of sheer goofy entertainment, but not enough to make it a film worth seeing. 10,000 B.C. is like the wreckage left behind by Apocalypto and Pathfinder, with just a touch of One Million Years BC.
It opens with the a prophecy delivered by Old Mother, the elder of a small tribe of hunters and gatherers. The prophecy revolves around the arrival of a blue-eyed girl who will be claimed by the hunter who brings down a mammoth during the last hunt. Then, a great number of their people will be kidnapped by "four-legged demons" and that the two will step up and lead them all into the future.
Following the delivery of the prophecy everything begins to fall into place. The hunt comes and our hero D'leh (Steven Strait) is successful in his quest to take down a mammoth, although it is not the clean kill that was desired. Anyway, he still claims the white staff signifying him as the hunt leader, not to mention his beloved blue-eyed girl, Evolet (Camilla Belle). Shortly thereafter, he comes clean regarding his impropriety in taking down the mamoth, returns the white spear, and sulks for a while.
Meanwhile, the four-legged demons arrive, as expected. Much like the Mayans in Apocalypto, they arrive with no warning, and attack with no mercy. They claim their prisoners and leave as swiftly as they came.
This is where the adventure truly kicks in. D'leh, with a few of his fellow tribesman, heads off into uncharted territory to find his woman, his people, and exact his revenge upon the demons. Along the way they gather friends from other tribes, each hearing of his quest and wishing to help end the tyranny of the evil demons; although, the demons may not be demons, just truly evil humans. However, they are in the employ of someone who may be an alien or an Atlantean, if the film's mythos is to be trusted.
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