Alejandro G. Iñárritu came off his Oscar winning (Best Director, Best Picture) Birdman and decided to head out into the wild for his follow-up, The Revenant. The film is a brutal, no-holds-barred look at survival in the early days of America in the most unforgiving of landscapes. For that alone, it deserves to be saluted. Iñárritu shot the film using only available light and because of that fact and other natural feeling elements, The Revenant is a revelation. But, on the other hand, it also feels as slow as a long walk in feet upon feet of snow.
Leonardo DiCaprio is getting all sorts of Oscar buzz for his turn as a guide for a group of trappers. His Hugh Glass is left for dead after a bear attack by Tom Hardy’s John Fitzgerald and Will Poulter’s Bridger. Well, the evil deed is mostly forged Fitzgerald, who dupes Bridger into thinking that leaving Glass behind is their only chance at survival.
Let’s back up a bit. Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) is leading a crew of trappers across dangerous terrain that is not only treacherous in terms of its landscape, but also due to the fact that Native Americans can come out of the forest at any time and kill everyone in sight and take all their loot After one of those ambushes, Henry and his team retreat across a river and into the woods. While decided what their next move is (yes, many of them – especially Fitzgerald — are motivated by greed and getting some worth-a-lot pelts to the nearby fort so they can get paid), Glass and his half-Native, half-White son go hunting for food and bam! Glass is attacked by the bear.
The actual scene of the attack is as brutal as one would has heard. It’s impossible to look at without being moved in some emotional manner or another. Iñárritu is not pulling any punches for his audience and wants us to see just how vicious life during that time in that locale was and believe you-me, we get it. Once Glass manages to survive the attack, our real drama starts. Somehow, miraculously he makes it out, but Bridger and Fitzgerald are gone. He makes it his mission to track them down and extol his revenge for the inhumanity and several other things as well that are worthy of some serious old school vengeance.
Lushly shot and brilliantly executed with a bluntness that is fitting of the time period and the subject matter, The Revenant suffers from falling under its own weight. Once the survival portion of the film is over, one may find themselves completely exhausted and ready to pack it in. But, unfortunately, the revenge aspect of the film has now commenced. Like we said, this is a slow mover and not in a slow cooker thriller type of good way. It is drawn out and baron of the emotional pull that would have its audience along for the long ride. Something is missing and it’s not due to the performances.
DiCaprio is sensational. Is he Oscar worthy? Sure, for a nomination, but he has turned in better performances that were much more worthy of an Academy Award (such as The Wolf of Wall Street). He does much with what he is given, which is not a whole lot to say. He grunts and silently emotes in the most brutal of manners and for that he should be lauded. Yet, the true star of this film is Hardy. Yet again, the Mad Max: Fury Road star astounds. His villain is not necessarily evil by nature, but by necessity. And that nuanced difference is seen in every frame of Hardy’s turn and that, above all else, makes The Revenant compelling, despite its faults.
Iñárritu gives us a lesson in filmmaking with his latest and that is his greatest accomplishment with The Revenant. It is gorgeous to watch. It is on purpose blatantly brutal and that in no way should be a distraction or a detriment to appreciating the film. The issue is that by the time DiCaprio is even able to pursue his revenge, we were ready for the credits to roll.
Grade: B-