The Revenant

Minimal Speaking. Visuals tell the story. Hardy is just as good as DiCaprio in this.

Finally saw this movie (yes 4 years late) and I understand why Leonardo won the Oscar, along with the many academy awards the movie and director won. It is a cinematic masterpiece. The cinematography is amazing, the whole cast (Tom Hardy is great here) is great. The costumes and weapons used (early 1800s) look so damn good. The story is very simple and not complicated. It is about revenge and surviving in the cold and icy wilderness of 1823. The action scenes are brutal and gritty, like they should be for that time period. Officially in my top 10 movies of all time. If you've never seen this film, do yourself a favor and rent it or buy it. It definitely deserves to be in your collection. Some people might not like all the spiritual stuff or reading subtitles (lots of Native American language here) but it is needed since there a lot of interaction with Native American tribes here. FINAL REVIEW 10/10

"The Revenant" is probably the most beautiful movie I have seen for a long time. This is not only due to the incredible locations, but also to the excellent (and by excellent I mean excellent) camera-work. Frequently I was just blown away by the sheer beauty of the rough terrain of Canada and how it was captured by the crew. However, there are a few drawbacks. Mainly the story (it is a very simple revenge story line) and the dialog (it is basically not existent :D).

When I first left the movie I was still blown away by all the great things I mentioned above (I was thinking about a 10/10 rating), but the longer I was outside the movie the more I recognized that "The Revenant" is a film that is incredible entertaining whilst sitting in the cinema, but also a movie I quickly forgot about when being at home again.

Still, the movie is definitely a must-see. Your money is well invested!

The Revenant falls into the same category as Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream" and Spielberg's "Schindler's List" for me, in the essence of being a terrific movie but not something I think I can sit through a second time. In all these movies there are brutal sequences that cause emotional stress and disgust just watching because it is so REAL and GRIPPING. To think that events in these movies actually happened or that they could very well happen is too much for me to think about. Not to say that I did not enjoy this film thoroughly.

The Revenant is a technical masterpiece that left me wondering "How the hell did they do that?" after many scenes and sequences. With beautiful cinematography and adroit camera movement this film is a visual magnum opus. It is apparent that the great minds that put forth this film are none other than the same ones that brought us Birdman: Lubezki and Inarritu. There are many long shots without cuts that are sprinkled throughout the film that add a sense of sophistication to it with the added bonus of predominantly location based shooting and natural lighting for the film , that can even make a novice film watcher raise an eyebrow at its complexity.

The camera work is not the only noteworthy aspect of the film; The actors did a superb job executing their rolls. Many are raving about DiCaprio's performance but I was more of a fan of Hardy's brutal and gritty character Fitzgerald. Granted, half the words that came out of his mouth were unintelligible but he left no doubt in my mind that he was fully devoted to his role and bringing Fitzgerald alive instead of just Hardy playing a character named Fitzgerald. He was simply amazing.

With all this said, there are still flaws in the film. At some points it was dragging on and moving too slow. It gave the impression that the film itself was cocky and wanted to show off all of its beautiful scenery and camera work too much. Then there was the "he shouldn't be alive" situations. Hugh Glass was a real guy that really did survive a bear mauling but in the film they make this guy practically immortal. There were too many instances where I was thinking "he should be dead three times over right now, for me to enjoy the film as much I should have.

All in all a great film that I only recommend to seasoned and mature film viewers.

Since the first trailers of this movie came out I knew it would be an experience. Following the incredible Birdman, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu had the public anxiously awaiting his interpretation of this bleak survival story, and much like Birdman, Iñárritu is also the star of this film. The Revenant has some of the most beautiful cinematography I've ever seen. It's cold, visceral, and almost entirely authentic from the use of natural lighting to the barebones yet powerful storytelling. You can tell Iñárritu poured his heart into this project and it pays off tremendously. This is not to discount the incredible performances of DiCaprio and Hardy (DiCaprio finally getting his well-overdue Oscar), but it's hard to imagine the movie being so impactful had another director been at the helm.

The story is as simple as it gets. In the 1800s, a group of settlers escape an ambush by an indigenous tribe, and during their travels one man gets separated from the group and gets brutally attacked by a wild bear and subsequently left for dead by his team. It's a revenge story more than anything. What it also highlights is human perseverance and the will to live. The things that happen to this man are truly horrific and difficult to watch. I'm not sure what parts of the story were embellished or Hollywoodized, but this film sucks you into this world and puts you right alongside this fatally wounded man desperate to survive. Leonardo DiCaprio gives a heart-wrenching performance as Hugh Glass, expressing a wide range of emotions despite the limited dialogue. Tom Hardy is also phenomenal as one of the most vile, wretched human beings on the planet. This guy is despicable to the core, and you forget you're watching Tom Hardy at times because he's completely absorbed in the role. The supporting cast is great as well despite their small time on screen. As far as performances and cinematography goes, The Revenant is flawless.

What prevents this from getting a perfect 10 is one particular storyline that I didn't think was needed, and it involves the wife of Hugh Glass. She's never developed as a character but she appears intermittently in visions and dreams and it almost sucks you out of the movie for a second because of how intense the main narrative is. But this is a very small gripe. From beginning to end this movie had me on the edge of my seat, my jaw on the floor and my eyes glued to the screen. The Revenant is definitely not for everyone, but it's impossible not to appreciate it for the breathtaking cinematic achievement that it is.