The Revenant 2015 (Review)

revenant_ver2(For a different – but still interesting – movie about a more ‘zombie/vampire’ type undead, check this The Revenant.)

A ‘revenant’ is a being thought to have returned from the dead…

When a riverside pelt producing operation is attacked by an Indian party, it’s a slaughter only a few escape.

Among the few stunned survivors lucky enough to escape are principled team leader Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), no nonsense Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), and veteran guide Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio). But it is Glass’ son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) who initially attracts the most immediate attention, given his half Indian heritage.

Once a tenuous calm is secured the small group stash the precious pelts and make their way through the dense and treacherous terrain toward the base camp. It is when doing an advanced scout that Glass is attacked by a protective mama bear. Attacked a lot.

Glass lives, but he wears large gashes and wounds and will likely not last the night, let alone the lengthy journey to the camp. Difficult decisions must be made and are, with Fitzgerald and a couple other young men – one of them Hawk – given a sombre task.

I won’t give the same spoilers that the trailer does.

Again Glass survives, emerging from a shallow grave with but one thought driving him. He will eat the unimaginable, overcome the insurmountable and perform the unthinkable before his retribution mission is complete.

…………

The Revenant is a reasonably straightforward premise handled masterfully. The setpieces are remarkable, with the initial Indian assault and a sequence where Glass must ‘tauntaun’ his horse both noteworthy. The cinematography uniformly beautiful even though the terrain often isn’t, with long tracking shots, 360 degree pans and many views gazing skywards.

And the acting is superb. I cannot fall in line with those who feel DiCaprio must be gifted the Oscar for his performance. Sure it is magnetic and compelling, but let’s not wet our pants here. He doesn’t speak because his throat is deeply injured and his desperation evident but not really requiring nuance (Director: “now Leo, look exhausted and determined again”). Tom Hardy also is excellent but as with Mad Max Fury Road not required to show range beyond ‘surly’.

McGyver made a career of using seemingly useless and unrelated things in his schemes. Many chefs make to careers about turning humble ingredients into meals. Directors like John Carpenter, Walter Hill and Tony Scott were renowned for taking low budgets and familiar scripts and elevating the material

On the back of the universal acclaim of Birdman… we can add Alejandro Inarritu to that list, in perhaps the most unlikely ‘downshift’ in recent history.

The Revenant is a simple retribution tale that is not dramatically different in tone and setting than Dead Man and The Road, but is clearly better than both.

It will likely not be one of the best films of 2016 once this year closes, but it might be the one where it is most noticeable that the material is given the Maximum Upgrade treatment.

Final Rating – 8 / 10. Magnetic, dreamlike and haunting, The Revenant kicks 2016 off to a fine start.

About OGR

While I try to throw a joke or two into proceedings when I can all of the opinions presented in my reviews are genuine. I don't expect that all will agree with my thoughts at all times nor would it be any fun if you did, so don't be shy in telling me where you think I went wrong... and hopefully if you think I got it right for once. Don't be shy, half the fun is in the conversation after the movie.
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