The Revenant: Alone in the Wild

Hello everyone! For this week’s”New Movie Show” we have Dicaprio’s latest attempt at an Oscar, The Revenant.

THE REVENANT

DIRECTED BY: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

STARRING: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter

GENRE: Epic Adventure Western

YEAR: 2015

COUNTRY: United States

In 1823, a party of trappers under the command of Captain Andrew Henry hunt for pelts in the vast uncolonized wilderness of the Northern Plains in what was until 1821 part of Missouri Territory. When Arikara Native Americans launch a surprise attack on the party’s camp, many of the trappers are slaughtered and the survivors flee on a boat. At the recommendation of the party’s guide and most experienced hunter Hugh Glass, who has knowledge of the area and natives, they abandon the boat and begin the journey back to their outpost, Fort Kiowa, on foot. The decision bothers some, particularly John Fitzgerald, who is hostile towards Glass’s half-native son Hawk, as he was partially scalped by natives years earlier.

While scouting ahead alone, Glass is ambushed by a grizzly bear after disturbing her cubs. He manages to kill her, but is badly mauled; the party discover him close to death and carry him on a makeshift stretcher. Fitzgerald argues that Glass will not survive his injuries and that they should kill him to speed their journey. Unwilling to kill Glass, Henry offers payment to those who will stay behind with him instead. Fitzgerald, Hawk, and the young Jim Bridger volunteer. Henry makes Fitzgerald promise to stay with Glass until he dies and give him a proper burial.

Alright Revenant, lets see why you are special. First off, the film is absolutely beautiful. The cinematographer inside me was so impressed with The Revenant that it peaked my interest in the subject once again. Despite what I heard, The Revenant also felt authentic, like DiCaprio was actually stranded and left for dead. Lastly, both the performances of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy were on point and superb. It made me really believe that there is an existing rivalry between the two.  While the supporting cast didn’t impress me as much, they were able to hold their ground, just not that well.

I am sorry everyone…while I agree that Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance was Oscar worthy, it didn’t help the fact that The Revenant was just too boring. The Revenant was very slow and dragged on for the almost three hour run time. When I have to check my watch to see if the film is even close to being done, then you know that there is a problem.  Pure Oscar bait and it obviously served its purprose.

PROS:

• Excellent cinematography.
• Authentic feel.
• Main cast performance.
• Supporting cast performance.

CONS:

• Boring.
• Snail-like pacing.
• Oscar bait.

SCORE: 7.0 / 10

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