Review: The Revenant

The Revenant

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Review: I absolutely adore Leonardo DiCaprio. Inception, Django Unchained and The Wolf of Wall Street are among some of my favorite movies and Leo's performance in all of them, in my opinion, is top notch. This movie though, this movie right here is the one that won Leo an Oscar. I've been dying to see it for a while now, but a lack of funds kept me from seeing it in theaters, and a dwindling interest in film as a whole kept me from getting around to it entirely. Now that I've seen it though, I feel safe in saying that this is Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance to date.

         Does that mean it's my favorite movie I've seen with Leonardo DiCaprio in it? No, not really. In fact I would say that I like it less than all of the movies I listed above, but of stand alone performances, this is Leo's best. Don't get me wrong, this is a quality film, but it wasn't totally up my alley. The Revenant is bloody, gritty, and violent in specific ways that make it very hard to watch at times, especially for someone who isn't very fond of gruesome movies. When Leo started cutting open his horse to sleep in, I have to admit I had half a heart to say "that's enough movie for tonight" and try again later. Even still, I liked this movie quite a whole lot which I think is as a testament to its quality.

         From a story telling perspective even though the film is action packed, the pacing can feel very slow. There are frequent down beats contrasting the periods of high intensity action which serve to give the viewer some time to rest, but could definitely overstay their welcome for some. Luckily for me and many others, the absolutely jaw dropping aerial nature shots tend to occupy these slower beats and I have to say that I have never seen anything like them in a movie. They're one of a kind, to the point that I would recommend to some this film off of those panoramic shots alone. The cinematography as a whole is fantastic in this movie, definitely one of the high points. I have to be honest though, and it probably doesn't come as a surprise, what really shines above all else in this film is the acting. Sure the plot, motifs and themes are interesting and engaging enough on their own, but the performances from some of the actors, namely Will Poulter and Tom Hardy, really take this film to the next level.

         I've already talked about how much I like Leonardo DiCaprio in this movie, but I have to give credit where credit is due. Tom Hardy and Will Poulter's performances in this movie are actually just so fucking good. There isn't all that much dialogue from them, but what little there is hits you like a truck and gives you so much of their character. Their struggles, their motivations, their weaknesses, most characters could say five times as much and tell you five times as little, and I believe that a big part of that has to do with the delivery and performances of the actors in this film. Shoutouts to Tom Hardy and Will Poulter, they managed to shine as much if not more than Leo in this movie, so I have to give them mad props.

Recommendation: Before I get into who I would recommend this movie to, let me start with who I absolutely do not recommend this movie to. I don't recommend this movie to anyone who does not like violent, gritty, or otherwise gruesome movies. There are a lot of scenes that are hard to watch, to the point that I had to wonder if there was some guy in the back with a pen and paper awarding points every time somebody had their arm cut off or their throat ripped open. Next, I don't recommend this movie to people who have low patience. This is an action movie no doubt, but it is slow moving and has plenty of down time. If that's not your cup of tea, this movie won't be either. Who I absolutely can recommend this movie to, is somebody who wants to see a damn good redemption story, some damn good action, and some damn gorgeous American natural beauty. This one is absolutely a certified goodie, and I hope you will all check it out!

...

And those are my thoughts on The Revenant! Took a while to get this one out, I got kind of addicted to Dota Auto Chess this month... Join me tomorrow when I will be talking about this game.

Until then!

- Malachi