‘10,000 B.C.’ only entertains

It looks like writer-director Roland Emmerich went with a bit of a “mixing pot” approach when making his newest movie, “10,000 B.C.” Fans of “Ice Age,” “Jurassic Park” and “The Ten Commandments” will definitely see the resemblances in this historically inaccurate yet entertaining flick.

Emmerich already has some visually pleasing movies under his belt, such as “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow,” and “10,000 B.C.” doesn’t disappoint. Its computer-generated visions of mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and man-eating prehistoric dinosaur birds seem to distract the viewers from a plot that historians can’t be too proud of.

For his movie “The Patriot,” Emmerich contacted the Smithsonian Institute to check his facts, but he obviously didn’t do the same with “B.C.” The viewers will learn that woolly mammoths helped build the pyramids, tribesmen speak perfect English and the tribal women had access to mascara.

The plot centers on D’Leh, played by Steven Strait, a member of the mountain tribe the Yagahl. The tribe’s prophet, Old Mother, deems D’Leh the chosen one to save the tribe from an unforeseen encounter with ‘four-legged demons’ and the eventual partner of Evolet (Camilla Belle), one of the tribe’s only females.

The Yagahl rely on the annual appearance of woolly mammoths every year for food. But when the encounters become less and less frequent because of none other than global warming, Old Mother predicts the tribe will soon have its “final hunt.”

At a young age D’Leh is harassed by the tribe’s other children who call him a coward because his father abandoned the tribe when Old Mother predicted the final hunt was soon upon the tribe. He overcomes it, however, and claims the tribe’s white spear, which is owned by the leader.

When the demons, which appear to be a group of Arabians on horses, arrive and take Evolet and the majority of the tribe into slavery, D’Leh joins forces with two other men from the tribe in an attempt to take back their stolen tribesmen.

The journey takes them from frozen mountain tops, to tropical jungles infested with what at first appears to be the Velociraptors from “Jurassic Park” but are more or less giant, flesh-eating ostriches. And finally to a land that looks like the African savannah on the edge of the Sahara desert. D’Leh befriends the local people here, who have also had many of their people stolen by the demons.

They tell him tales of a city of the gods, where the slaves are taken. To get there D’Leh must cross the endless sea of sand, which of course no one has ever crossed before. The demons end up being a part of an Egyptian society, ruled by a god-like pharaoh who has a shot at breaking the world record for longest fingernails.

This is when D’Leh does his best Moses impression and tries to free his people from enslavement.

Though the suspense and action never reach the levels of some of Emmerich’s prior works, especially “Independence Day,” there are some great computer-generated scenes. As long as it’s not used as a reference for an ancient history class, it will be enjoyed.

Rating: Three out of five stars.