• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Dec 22, 2015 By Stephen Danay Web Exclusive

For a film with a straightforward narrative and obvious themes, The Revenant has generated an increasingly complex orbit of secondary concerns and industry buzz. It’s director Alejandro Iñárritu’s hotly anticipated follow-up to last year’s Oscar winner, Birdman. It’s also the most transparent and extreme bid by star Leonardo DiCaprio for the Best Actor Oscar win that has eluded him throughout his two decades of superstardom. It’s also the culmination of a production process of Apocalypse Now-esque proportions, including a budget that more than doubled from $60 million to $135 million, a shooting schedule that dragged on for months and required a move to an entirely different continent, and crew members abandoning the production entirely. I doubt Iñárritu intended for any of this to happen, but it certainly informs the film, which is as grueling and brutal a two and half hours as you’re likely to spend watching a major Hollywood motion picture.

DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, a frontiersman guiding a fur-trapping expedition through the wilds of the Dakota territory in 1823. Following an attack by hostile Native Americans that decimates their numbers and a bear mauling that leaves Glass on the brink of death, the remaining men decide to abandon Glass to his fate in order to increase their own chances at making it back to civilization. Glass’ struggle for survival eventually transforms into a quest for revenge.

Given how effortlessly Iñárritu was able to infuse the story of an over-the-hill actor staging a play with propulsive urgency and tension, it’s not a surprise that The Revenant is as gripping as film can get. The grisly make-up work, the costuming and the gorgeous natural light cinematography transform every frame into a poster-worthy image, providing a smart balance to the subject matter, which would otherwise have much of the audience watching the film through their fingers. Although his directorial style isn’t quite as self-conscious as it was in Birdman, Iñárritu still makes use of several impressive long takes; the bear attack is as terrifying as anything you’ll see in a horror film this year, and the opening battle scene is reminiscent of the first twenty minutes of Saving Private Ryan. Paradoxically, some of his most successful attempts at verisimilitude end up breaking the fourth wall; the camera occasionally gets close enough to the characters that their breath fogs the lens. It’s over the top, but effective.

Despite Iñárritu’s technical mastery and artistic flourishes, the biggest selling point of The Revenant is DiCaprio’s turn as Glass, which often feels less like a performance and more like watching someone participate in some kind of extreme stunt competition. Knowing that you’re actually watching Leo himself climb out of a frozen lake or eat bison guts is part of the “fun”, but like so many of his performances, one feels like they’re watching someone act rather than watching someone fully become a character. He’s clearly put the work in, and the make-up effects that leave his eyes cloudy and his lips yellowed and cracked go a long way toward making the performance believable, but it feels like a single note being held rather than a full song. The real triumph is Tom Hardy. The treacherous Fitzgerald is probably the fourth or fifth marble-mouthed psycho in Hardy’s filmography, but he keeps the character fresh and engaging even while being utterly despicable.

The Revenant doesn’t quite have as much to say as its creators think it does–Birdman garnered some of the same criticism last year–and certainly breaks no new ground on the moral questions surrounding the pursuit of vengeance. The film works best when it’s marrying technically dazzling filmmaking and brutal pulp storytelling.

foxmovies.com/the-revenant

Author rating: 7.5/10