Review of The Revenant (2015) by Quincytheodore — 03 Feb 2016

A harsh winter for beast and man.

While having Tom Hardy and Leonardo DiCaprio is a definite boon, what really makes “The Revenant" a splendid cinematic experience is the utmost care for visual and cinematography. It's a series of immersive events taken with extreme care, minimal editing and a continuous shot after continuous shot of wintry landscape as it witnesses revenge and ordeal of savages.

It tells the story of Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) as he fights against beast, nature and fellow man to stay alive. There are a couple of other subplots though Glass' perspective takes the focus. One can argue that this is Leo's closest chance at Oscar in recent years, and it's hard not to see why. He's an expert on conveying emotions with sheer gestures and psychical attributes alone. If this movie is advertised as actual survival show, Leo would make people believe it.

On the other spectrum Tom Hardy as Fitzgerald is just equally amazing. He presents a much different persona than his other roles, I admittedly didn't recognize him for half of the movie. This is a brilliant act on his part to showcase the brutality of the time. Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter round up the crew nicely as duty bound captain and the more inexperienced frontiersman. The average length of scene is demanding and the cast delivers pleasantly.

The other subplots happen simultaneously as Glass' predicament, they could be highlighted more but this is just a slight scratch on the narrative and also not to impose on the main story line. Its visual is certainly a triumph in film making. There's no shortage of refinement on the sequences, whether it's dialogues or action. It's a precise, deliberate and unwavering presentation, captivating with its pronounced details as well as slight whisper or howl of the winter.

Few other movies manage to allure the audience into the world of the movie with stern excellent production and acting, "The Revenant" is truly breathtaking.