The Revenant (2015)

Directed by:  Alejandro González Iñárritu

Written by: Mark L. Smith, Alejandro González Iñárritu, & Michael Punke (part of the novel)

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio & Tom Hardy







(Before I begin my review, I apologize for not having this up sooner, and by sooner I mean before the Golden Globes.  Technically I saw this the day before the Globes and did not have a chance to put this review up.  But at least it is before the Oscars, right?)

Revenant: noun, A person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.

The Revenant stars DiCaprio and Hardy as part of a group of men that trade fur during the 1820s.  Their main goal is to avoid the Native Americans and try to get as many pelts as possible.  Unfortunately for Hugh Glass (DiCaprio), he encounters a bear that leaves him injured beyond belief.  So much so that it looks as if he might die.  Luckily, or unluckily, he survives!  But at the cost of losing his son.  In a quest for revenge, Glass tracks down the murderer who left him for dead and killed his son.

There are so many things to love about this film.  Here's a list:

1. The metaphors
2. Leo obviously
3. Will Pouter, a.k.a. eyebrow guy
4. The survival and just the roughness of the film
5. Cinematography beauty
6. And more that I can't list, because it might give the ending away.

So first the metaphors.  I love any movie that has metaphors, being an English major.  But many people seem to miss the metaphors in, well, pretty much any type of film.  The metaphors occur mostly with the Native American aspect of the film and the actors that portray the meaning of karma.

Leo.  Who doesn't love Leo?  I really think with all the effort that was put into this film by his acting and the weather conditions that he will finally win the Academy Award for Best Actor.  He did not talk a lot in the film, which made him an even greater actor because he had to rely on his facial expressions and body language to portray his agony with what was occurring right before his eyes.  Now that's acting.

Will Pouter, if you don't know, he is from one of the Chronicles of Narnia films, the third one.  When I first saw that film, all I thought was who is this kid with the funny eyebrows?  But since then he has appeared in Meet the Millers as well as The Maze Runner films.  Comparing those films to this one, you can see how he's grown as an actor.  He's has had a variety of roles from being the brainy know-it-all to the awkward teen to the bully of the Glade and now as the guilty young man trying to do what's right.  I think he's a great actor and I hope to see more of his funny awesome eyebrows in the future.

The survival and roughness of the film is something I haven't seen, especially the horse scene if you know what I mean.  You can tell it's cold, hard to walk through the snow (imagine the equipment!), and having to deal with mother nature as a whole while in the woods; now that's just crazy.  I'd die.  But that's filmmaking.

The benefit of filming in crazy weather conditions is the beauty.  I admired how between the scenes there were short clips of the scenery to give the audience a view of where they were.  It's beautiful, but also dangerous as we see with what the characters go through.

Iñárritu did a fantastic job with this film and I hope to see more Leo/Alejándro collaborations further on.  I can see why it won for the Golden Globes and I'm sure it will win again for the Oscars, especially with its 12 nominations.  It's a must see.  5 popcorns!