Criticize Roland Emmerich’s formulaic blockbusters all you like, but give the filmmaker credit for this: As a storyteller, he tends to stay ahead of the curve. “Independence Day” rekindled our interest in extraterrestrial visitors. Few films before “The Patriot” (and even fewer since) have used the Revolutionary War as a backdrop. And for better or worse, Emmerich’s 1998 “Godzilla” remake helped pave the way for this year’s hit, “Cloverfield.”

That knack for exploring uncultivated material has led Emmerich and writing partner Harald Kloser to “10,000 B.C.,” a textbook roller-coaster adventure that scores most of its points for originality of setting and time frame. Prehistoric event pictures aren’t exactly clogging multiplexes, and “B.C.” adequately satisfies any need to see nomadic hunters trampled by wooly mammoths.

Emmerich loves a good rescue mission – watch Dennis Quaid brave the frozen tundra to find Jake Gyllenhaal in “The Day After Tomorrow.” Another such quest advances the narrative here. D’Leh (Steven Strait) and Evolet (Camilla Belle) are primal loners who connect as lovers. When barbaric warriors enslave half of D’Leh’s tribe – including Evolet – the unlikely hero gives pursuit.

Stock characters join D’Leh on his impromptu mission, their fates sealed by the gods of storytelling. Elder statesman Tic’Tic (Cliff Curtis) dispenses knowledge until his untimely death. Chief adversary Ka’Ren (Mo Zinal) opposes D’Leh until a change of heart allows them to collaborate. Young follower Baku (Nathanael Baring), encouraged by Tic’Tic to stay behind, inevitably earns his stripes in battle.

Emmerich’s action plays aren’t showcases for an actor’s versatility. Instead, we notice when a personality such as Will Smith outshines the director’s costly effects. Belle has struggled showing her range in previous films, so the one-note damsel in distress suits her. Strait’s buff physique will help lure teenage girls to an otherwise masculine blockbuster – he plunges through Emmerich’s physical challenges without mussing his inch-thick dreadlocks.

Emmerich structures “10,000 B.C.” like an enhanced video game. D’Leh battles harsh natural elements and encounters increasingly ferocious creatures during each stage. Giant turkey beasts plunge through eight-foot bamboo stalks. A saber-toothed tiger waits for Emmerich’s hero at the bottom of a hole that’s filling with rain water. The final confrontation – possibly the director’s biggest visual undertaking to date – involves elephants stampeding through armies of soldiers on the side of a semiconstructed pyramid. It’s pretty impressive.

So expect thrills, but not historical accuracy. “B.C.” avoids naming an actual location for its story or declaring a race to which D’Leh and his people belong.

Without facts, “B.C.” falls back on myths and mysticism that undercut the drama. As D’Leh fulfills a prophecy to unite separated tribes against a common enemy, I thought about today’s presidential candidates on the campaign trail. I wasn’t looking for a current political message in a story set light years in the past, but there it was.