8 out of 10
Cast:
Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass
Tom Hardy as John Fitzgerald
Domhnall Gleeson as Andrew
Henry Forrest Goodluck as Hawk
Will Poulter as Jim Bridger
Paul Anderson as Anderson
Brendan Fletcher as Fryman
Brad Carter as Johnnie
Kory Grim as Trapper
Kristoffer Joner as Murphy
McCaleb Burnett as Beckett
Lukas Haas
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
The Revenant Review:
Brutal action, beautiful landscapes, and impressive performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy make “The Revenant” worth checking out on the big screen… if you have the stomach for it.
Story:
This film is inspired by a true story. In the 1820s, a group of trappers on the edge of the frontier find themselves attacked by a Native American war party. As they retreat, most of the men are killed. Among the survivors are the leader Andrew Henry, their scout Hugh Glass, his son Hawk Glass, and John Fitzgerald. The men attempt to make their way back to their fort, but the war party continues to stalk them.
One morning as Hugh Glass scouts ahead for the group, he accidentally runs across a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs. Glass is mauled nearly to death, but he manages to kill the bear in the process. When the rest of the group finds him, they are faced with a new dilemma – carry Glass to safety and risk being attacked by the natives or leave him to succumb to his injuries and make a run for it?
“The Revenant” is rated R for strong frontier combat and violence including gory images, a sexual assault, language and brief nudity.
What Worked:
Years from now when people look back at “The Revenant,” one thing is really going to stand out – the brutality of this film. This movie depicts both man and nature at their worst and it absolutely glues you to the screen. The movie is part survival story, part revenge tale and it depicts both unflinchingly. For example, the bear attack is one of the most intense animal attack scenes shown on the big screen since “Jaws.” As a kid I used to be morbidly fascinated by stories of bear attacks in “Outdoor Life” magazine. This film captures the horror of a bear attack in all its frightening glory. (For the record, anyone thinking this depicted a bear raping DiCaprio is a pervert and/or a moron.) Things don’t get much better for Hugh Glass after the attack. His gaping wounds have to be treated, he has to drag himself to civilization, he has to run from pursuing Arikara warriors… all while in an ice cold environment. If you are at all squeamish about injuries on film, you’d probably do well to avoid “The Revenant.”
I was also impressed with this film’s depiction of Native Americans. Too often movies take the politically-correct route and depict them as tree-hugging peaceful victims of the white man. But if you take time to study actual history of them, you know that they are an incredibly complex society capable of horrifying acts of terror as well as astounding acts of compassion. The film starts out showing them attacking the trappers in a ferocious battle that justifiably terrifies the audience. Arrows pierce skulls… and every other part of the body. Attacks come out of nowhere. It’s one of the most brutal action scenes shown on the big screen this year (and almost done in a long, continuous take). However, later in the film, we see other Pawnee natives helping Hugh Glass survive though they had every reason to leave him to die. We see Arikara warriors speaking French. They are contrasting depictions that add depth and humanity to them, not a sanitized version like we’re used to.
As you might expect, Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent as Hugh Glass. While most of his role consists of being tortured on screen, I will say he does it convincingly. There’s a drive and ferocity in his eyes that makes you believe he just might survive all of the abuse that would kill other men. He’s supported by an excellent cast, most notably Tom Hardy as John Fitzgerald. Having recently seen him as Mad Max, Fitzgerald is such a strikingly different character that you’d be forgiven for not realizing they are portrayed by the same actor. Hardy is that good. Also notable are Domhnall Gleeson as Andrew Henry and Will Poulter as Jim Bridger. Rather than being cartoony characterizations of a cowardly leader or a fearful young man, they come across as real people with the same reactions that you would expect from any human being thrown in this terrifying situation.
What Didn’t Work:
When you walk out of “The Revenant,” one of the first things you may want to do is look up the real historical account of what happened. It doesn’t take too many Wikipedia articles to make you realize that “inspired by true events” means “we changed a lot.” You find out that some characters never existed. You find out that other characters that died in the movie were spared in real life. You also find out that some of the stuff that Hugh Glass did to survive was grosser than what was in the movie. So it’s a little bit of a letdown that an otherwise realistic-appearing movie was a lot more fiction than you’d expect.
Along these lines, I kept thinking, “How are these characters not dying of hypothermia?” Hugh Glass is repeatedly seen sleeping in freezing weather, completely submerged in ice cold water, not wearing any gloves, etc. Again, for a film that seems to be trying to achieve a degree of realism, it didn’t seem realistic.
“The Revenant” is also pretty long. There are several scenes that you could easily cut and they’d have little impact on the outcome of the film. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu also has a few long, lingering nature shots that start to make you say, “OK, I get it, let’s move this along.” I think this could have been a little tighter film.
I also have to add that the music for “The Revenant” did not impress me. It was mainly long notes of strings with little to no melody. It was little more than noise that was as bleak as Glass’ prospects of survival.
The Bottom Line:
If you like Westerns, survival films, Leonardo DiCaprio, or Tom Hardy, then I think this is a film you’re going to want to check out on the big screen.
