The end days of the Mayan empire and a quest by one man to escape their blood-thirsty clutches to save his family, and by doing so be the sign that the days of the Mayans are coming to an end. The movie is an allegory for how even in our own time the internal violence of a civiliation can bring about it's final end... Or at least that's the official blurb. just a couple of mistakes with that though. First, it seems as Mr. Gibson can't get his Mayans and Aztecs straight, if to judge by the movie's end (the Mayans died out about 1000 years before the Spaniards came ashore in Aztek country).

Now as far as the rot from within bringing about a culture's end, here to they miss it. The Aztec civilization (since we've established it's not the Mayans anymore) didn't fall from any internal rot or violence but because of the Spanish greed for Aztec gold and the whole firearms vs clubs thing. It didn't matter how nice and peaceful the Aztecs could have been, the Spanish would have run over them anyway. THus, any point trying to be made goes away.

Beyond all that, this film is pretty much a chase scene; a well done chase scene, but one nonetheless, as the hero tries to make his way through the jungle back to save his wife and kid while being hunted by his pursuers. The film as a whole is okay, but not entirely $10 a ticket good (with sky-high ticket prices, it's time to get more pickey), more like $1 a rental good.