Review of The Mission

I had a hard time picking a 3.5 or a 4. I can't help but feel I should have like this movie more. It's got my name written all over it: beautiful wilderness, swashbuckling adventure, sympathetic portrayal of (historical) religion, a conflict between nations playing out at the ground level of individual personalities... I can't lay my finger on why I considered it good, but not great.

The procession at ~23 minutes in is superb; I've been meaning to show it to D&D players, including the more orderly, religious part of the procession a few shots later.

Later, after Mendoza has killed his brother, he drags all his equipment up the waterfall in a bag of netting. Nothing attached to his body, around his waist, or on his back. The bag contains his armor, his sword, and other articles that would be like a second skin to a warrior.

At first I took this scene to be about his stubborness, but on reflection I say it shows Mendoza reminding himself what he was, and what he has to give up: his warrior's nature, his aggression. So it's no accident that by the time Mendoza makes it up all the way to the Guarani village, he looks much like the typical image of Jesus.