Review of The Revenant (2015) by Patrick L — 07 May 2016

"It is very long and exhausting but director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has made a stunningly beautiful frontier epic".

Movie Review: The Revenant.

Date Viewed: January 12 2015.

Directed By Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel, Biutiful, 21 Grams and Birdman).

Screenplay By Mark L. Smith and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Based on the novel by Michael Punke.

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson, Forrest Goodluck, Grace Dove, Isaiah Tootoois, Arthur RedCloud, Paul Anderson, Brendan Fletcher, Brad Carter and Lukas Haas.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been very good for a long time so why hasn't he received an Academy Award yet. I don't know why but now people are saying he may finally win for his performance in "The Revenant". DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, an 1820s frontiersman who gets mauled by a bear, left for dead by his former colleagues and has to survive in the freezing-cold wilderness. It is pretty intense stuff but the movie was directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who last year made "Birdman" which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. After making a dark comedy, Inarritu has moved to the early 19th century and made a visually thrilling frontier epic. DiCaprio's commitment to the role is amazing but for me this is not his best work.

He has given better roles in other terrific projects like "Inception", "The Aviator", "The Departed", "Django Unchained" and "The Wolf of Wall Street".

"The Revenant" is very long and exhausting but director Inarritu has made a stunningly beautiful frontier epic. Mostly set in the cold and uncharted American wilderness, experienced hunter and fur trapper Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) leads his hunting party to safer ground after an ambush from the Arikara Indians. While out hunting, Glass gets viciously attacked by a grizzly bear. Glass survives the altercation but he is severely injured and gets separated from his party.

Two of his colleagues, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Jim Bridger (Will Poulter) do find him but they leave him to die and Fitzgerald murders his son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) for trying to stop him from killing his father. Glass crawls his way out of death and begins a ruthless pursuit to avenge Fitzgerald for leaving him to die and for murdering his son.

With breathtaking landscapes and amazing cinematography from Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Revenant" is an extravagant beauty of a movie. Inarritu's sweeping epic doesn't fly high like "Birdman" did a year ago but the action is well-paced and the acting is superb.

DiCaprio is absorbing as the frontiersman but so is Tom Hardy as the man who betrays Hugh Glass and leaves him for dead. Domhnall Gleeson who has really shown his range as a valuable screen presence this year gives another brilliant performance as Glass' hunting party leader.

Who knew getting mauled by a bear would lead Leonardo DiCaprio to be the frontrunner to win Best Actor at the Oscars? It maybe a grisly slog to sit through but "The Revenant" is exhilarating.