The Revenant (2015)

by Cheeto

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Posted on 18 September 2021

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Rating -

The Revenant is a 2015 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The screenplay by Mark L. Smith and Iñárritu is based in part on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel of the same name, which describes frontiersman Hugh Glass’s experiences in 1823; that novel is, in turn, based on the 1915 poem The Song of Hugh Glass. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.

It’s likely that I’m a little biased towards this film due to it being a personal favourite of mine ever since it came out. I have watched this film many a time; luckily for the sake of reviewing this film; I hadn’t watched it for a few years. I felt like I came into it how I would a film I’ve never watched.

First off, I love the acting in this film, every actor pulls their weight, and then some. I think Alejandro got the casting spot on, it’s like these actors were born to play the character’s. Leonardo DiCaprio of course carries this film, a nearly three hour long film where most of the focus is on him, the acting/actor has to be special, and he certainly doesn’t disappoint. Tom Hardy plays a great antagonist, he’s sick, twisted and selfish. I actually found myself physically resenting him, this is a good sign of an actor who knows what he’s doing. Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson and Forrest Goodluck all give great performances in supporting roles.

I love the direction Alejandro took, it’s a dark, brutal film, sometimes hard to even watch at times, I appreciate that he went down this road because it’s so much more realistic, and it pulls us into the film even more. His style is sprinkled throughout, and he truly does show why he’s one of the modern greats.

Now while this film is great, there are a few things that hold it back from being a 5 star. First off, this film does have a few scenes that really do drag, I know it’s not Alejandro’s fault as I’m sure this is what he was going for, it’s just that sometimes there’s 5-10 minute scenes of Leonardo DiCaprio doing basically nothing. This can cause you to sometimes check your watch, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Also, I think this film is maybe 20-25 minutes too long, I think the third act, no matter how great and thrilling it is, is dragged out, it can have you thinking ‘just get to the end already’, but once again; it isn’t the worst thing, due to the third act being so good.

Even though this film isn’t perfect (it’s not far from it), it is brilliant, it’s a film we rarely see in modern cinema. Yep, that’s how I’m going to describe this, it’s a film that almost is a call back to older westerns, but it has that gritty gory ness of today. Watch this one guys.

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