The Revenant (January 2016)

Official Australian release date: 7/1/16. Viewed: 10/1/16.

Director: Alejandro Iñárritu

Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter

Genre: Thriller / Drama

Rating: MA      

‘The Revenant’ (noun: “a person who has returned, supposedly from the dead”) is a film about a man left for dead, Glass (DiCaprio), and his lust for revenge keeping him alive in the wilderness. Set in the 1820s, in what was then the Wild West of Montana (but filmed mostly in Alberta, Canada), Captain Henry (Gleeson) and his men, including Glass, his son Hawk (Goodluck), Fitzgerald (Hardy) and Bridger (Poulter) are collecting pelts (I assume deer?) when attacked by Native Americans, setting them on a desperate journey back to ‘civilisation’.

Obviously, plenty goes wrong, including Glass being attacked by a Grizzly Bear, which even though it’s CGI, is an amazing/horrifying thing to watch! He survives, but is left for dead and thus begins his improbable survival tale for vengeance. There was a few things I didn’t like that much, including the score (too piercing at times), the length (over two & a half hours, and it meanders for about 40min in the middle) and some of the repetitiveness (always seem to be sitting around a fire!) and unnecessary flash-backs/visions.

However, the cinematography is absolutely superb – hopefully more films are made in Canada after this! – and Leo is solid, with his shaggy hair and crazed stare on display. Hardy is great and completely unrecognisable as Mad Max, while Poulter provides the film’s conscience. For mine, it’s a better film than ‘Birdman’, but although it strives for it, it’s still not an exceptional film. The ending leaves you, like Glass, exhausted and questioning everything.

Overall: Very good film, but not quite great.

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars.