If 10,000 B.C. was marketed as a fantasy adventure, maybe critics and audiences alike would have not been so disappointed. But with the expectation that this was a dramatic action adventure film, the historical inaccuracies and generic story line left me deceived and unsatisfied.

The story begins with a remote mountain tribe who take in a lost girl named Evolet (Camilla Belle). One of the boys of the tribe, D’Leh (Steven Strait), immediately falls in love with her and they become close friends. Meanwhile D’Leh’s father leave the tribe for unknown reasons and his family is outcast as cowards. Now grown, D’Leh must prove himself when Evolet is kidnapped by raiders of another tribe who invade their land.

The rest of the story is D’Leh’s journey to rescue his true love. On the way, he encounters several tribes who follow in his lead to avenge their family’s deaths by these raiders who also attacked their villages. It is a long journey in which D’Leh proves his strength as a leader, and also discovers the real reason his father left the tribe.

When D’Leh finally reaches the village of these raiders, he sees that they are of a superior intellect. Their technology and architecture surpasses all the villages he had encountered. But with their advanced skill comes a cruel and inhumane way of life toward others. Evolet, as well as the rest of the people kidnapped from their homes, were taken as slaves.

Undoubtedly, great things were expected of director Roland Emmerich who also made the successful science-fiction flicks Independence Day (1996) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004). Therefore, having been given a big budget to make this film, I don’t know what happened to Emmerich’s vision.

The problem with 10,000 B.C. is that nothing feels new or original. This story has been told time and time again in movies like Apocalypto (2006) and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), but Emmerich failed to add anything different and interesting. Audiences have seen mystical Shamans having prophecies that prove true, and they’ve seen computer-generated creatures come back to life on screen. So instead of a memorable production by Emmerich, 10,000 B.C. is yet another movie to be forgotten after the credits roll.

If we were to complain about the historical inaccuracies, the conversation would never end when discussing 10,000 B.C. Why give this movie such a title if hardly anything is going to be about what happened in that era? For one, D’Leh’s tribe speaks perfect English. I expected this movie would have subtitles throughout the film, much like Clan of the Cave Bear (1986). But for the convenience of the audience, people from 10,000 B.C. now speak English.

The raiders also invade villages on horses even though horses weren’t used for human transportation until about 4,000 B.C. And the earliest pyramid wasn’t build until about 2,600 B.C. even though the intellectually advanced people are already in the process of building it in 10,000 B.C.

My biggest problem with this film was that the story and trailer treated it as a serious movie, but in actuality it is ridiculous. If you forget about the cheesy voiceover that tells the “great” story of D’Leh and Evolet, and you forget about the numerous historical errors, 10,000 B.C. is just a simple and mildly entertaining movie at best.

Kristin’s Grade: C-
Director: Roland Emmerich
Screenwriter: Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser
Genre: Action/Adventure
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rated: PG-13 (for sequences of intense action and violence)