Congratulations, Academy. Is this what you wanted? All Leo DiCaprio wants is one Oscar, and as one of the best actors of his generation, he should have one by now. So, for YOU, he felt he needed to get assaulted by a bear. The Revenant contains visceral sequences with overlong filler, saved by DiCaprio (and Tom Hardy). Are you not entertained?
The Revenant is about the tall tale of Hugh Glass (DiCaprio). Glass was a trader on the American frontier in the 1820s, who encountered some of the worst luck of all time and kept going. After losing his Indian wife in a militia attack, and half of his platoon in an Indian raid, Glass and the survivors head into the woods to get to their fort as quickly as possible. On a scouting exhibition, Glass wanders into the den of a bear and suffers the obvious consequences, and even worse, the survivors route is too treacherous, and Glass gets left behind with his son (Forest Goodluck), the young Bridger (Will Poulter), and the ominous Fitzgerald (Hardy). Before too long, Glass has been left alone to fend for himself, relying on sheer will to keep going.
Alejandro G. Inarritu (director) and Emmanuel Lubezki (cinematographer), fresh of their Oscars, amp up Glass’s story to an epic scope. The Good: Lubezki shot the film only using natural light, lengthening the shoot, but giving the film added grandeur. Glass is shot with the perfect use of sun, snow, mountains, or giant valleys, metaphoring the journey without stating what is being done. The Bad: Inarritu has a tendency to go over the top. Many times he shoots Glass’s dream sequences, which fail to add anything to the story after the first dream. There is also an overreliance on Native Americans, trying to weave the theology into the film when it is at best peripheral to Glass’s journey. By trying to explain why Glass keeps going, the movie loses its focus and comes across too self indulgent.
Which is too bad, because Inarritu really guts the audience with the simple journey of revenge. The bear attack is a CGI and acting masterpiece, gripping with the realistic bear and how DiCaprio sells it. The battle sequences are terrifying in their tracking shot through the confusion of the militia, and Glass’s final hunt for the bad guy is tense and animalistic. Inarritu deftly creates the dangers and peril inherent in the American wilderness, simultaneously scaring and disturbing the audience.
I’ve seen Leo DiCaprio act better than in the Revenant, but he really sells that CGI’ed bear attack. Glass’s anger and will is never in doubt thanks to the man playing him. When DiCaprio is not on film, Tom Hardy picks up the slack. Though Glass is the focal point of the story, Hardy’s Fitzgerald is arguably the more interesting character, much to the benefit of The Revenant’s lengthy running time. Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson, Forrest Goodluck, and Arthur RedCloud are all pretty solid, but leave no real lasting impression.
The Revenant is full of frustrating contradictions. Though epic, it is pretentious. Simple, but unnecessarily esoteric. Walking issues that just vanish for no reason. The Revenant is never uninteresting, but unfortunately uneven. The biggest issue though: I’m sorry, but Jack Dawson isn’t winning a fight against Bane. Not happenin.