The Revenant
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck, Arthur Redcloud and Grace Dove
Backstory
Despite my love of film, you can see throughout the many reviews on this site the kinds of films I gravitate towards: big budget sci-fi and fantasy. I rarely head out to see any of the Oscar nominees. So, when my parents invited me along with them to go see The Revenant I was like, “Sure! Why not?” I’d already heard about The Revenant and how it’s DiCaprio’s latest shot at an Oscar and how it could only film for 2 hours per day because the director chose only to use natural light, so let’s go see an Oscar nominee for once!
Plot
Based on a true story of the fur trade in the 1820s. Hugh Glass was part of a trapping party, and as they were about to head back to the fort with their latest bounty of pelts, they’re attacked by Native Americans. Glass suggests the best way to get back to the fort is to ditch their boat and their pelts and make the journey over land. The captain agrees, much to the chagrin of Fitzgerald. When he wanders off to do a little hunting for food, Glass is mauled by a bear and near death. The captain decides to leave Glass behind with a few volunteers to nurse him back to health — including Fitzgerald and Glass’s son Hawk. Not really wanting any of this, Fitzgerald attempts to murder Glass, kills Hawk when Hawk tries to stop him, and leaves Glass for dead. The majority of the film then concerns Glass literally crawling out of the wilderness and back to civilization to get his vengeance on Fitzgerald.
What I Liked
Filmed largely in southern Alberta, the film is gorgeous, and the mountain peaks are maddeningly familiar as I spent a lot of the film trying to place them. Performances are great all around, especially DiCaprio, who carries the entire film for long stretches.
What I Didn’t Like
Those long stretches are long. The film did seem to drag on a bit.
Final Verdict
A powerful story about survival in extreme circumstances, but it could have been a little shorter.