The Revenant Review
R: Strong Frontier Combat and Violence Including Gory Images, A Sexual Assault, Language and Brief Nudity
20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises, Ratpac Entertainment
2 hrs and 36 Minutes
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, with Will Poulter, and Domhall Gleeson
Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during my adolescence. Outdated language might be seen in these old posts. Since then, my thoughts and values have grown. This review is being presented as they were originally written, grammatical errors and typos and all. Because to do otherwise would be that same as claiming these flaws has never existed.
STORYLINE: Inspired by true events, THE REVENANT captures one man's epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald . Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.
REVIEW: I'm sorry I don't get it. I really don't get it. Alejandro González Iñárritu made my favorite film of 2014 which was Birdman. Now since of that success, he has taken one of America's most popular actors and put him in the woods with a story that was inspired by true events. Already that had a lot of critics soiling their pants and already claiming it as their favorite film of 2015 even before they saw it. Personally I don't get it. With the Revenant, you get a nearly two hour film of Dicaprio being left for dead and trying to survive in the woods. It's beautiful to look at. The fact that this film was filmed on location without using much computer generated effects with the exception of the infamous bear attack scene is phenomenal. The beginning of the film had so much potential. After the opening war scene which is gorgeous to look at, the film hits it's high point 20 minutes in with a heart pounding bear attack that will be one of the most infamous scenes of 2015 let alone DiCaprio's career. After that, the film just slowly dwindles to be just a very dull survival film. I'm sorry, but for a film that boasts in it's marketing that it is a survival revenge flick its not very satisfying and pretty much lack substance. There is a lot of depth with DiCaprio's character and you genuinely want to see him persevere. It's entertaining to see the stuff he had to do to survive, but when you get down to it his character isn't as memorable as the roles he played in his career. It's not a career breaking role, it's just not one of his memorable roles. There is every year when DiCaprio is in a movie doing something outstanding people rightfully go, GIVE DICAPRIO THE OSCAR! For this I say go ahead, but if he doesn't win I'm not gonna be surprised neither will I be appalled. From the technical side of the film, its undoubtedly breathtaking. I mean you got CHIVO AS THE CINEMATOGRAPHER OF COURSE HE WILL GIVE YOU A GREAT LOOKING FILM! The makeup here is great. Not on DiCaprio, but on Tom Hardy. You can barely recognize him throughout the entire movie. But other than those things there is barely much to say about it. You have much better paced survival films that is more heart pounding and intense. Mel Gibson made that film it was called Apocalypto which has the same type of intense and heart pounding sequences this has, but this is a bit more desensitized. What makes it worse is that this is INSPIRED BY TRUE EVENTS. If you read the true events of this film most of this film is just a lie with the exception of (you guessed it) the bear attack. It's good to stretch a true story out to create an entertaining film, but jesus this film creates most things into just fiction. Like there is fictionalized films based on true events like most films set in WWII, but this movie plays it up to a tee.
LAST STATEMENT: Cinematically gorgeous that has a lot of money and effort put behind it varying from makeup and 1-3 memorable scenes, The Revenant's slow pacing and fictionalized elements for a near three film just splits your mind. With something like this it's easy to hate it or easy to love it, but with me it's just another glorified art of cinema that I just don't get.
Rating: 2.5/5 | 57%
