Fur trapper Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is wandering through the forest minding his own business when he stumbles across a cub, which leads to its mother beating the poor man a millimeter away from death. Just when you think Hugh's week couldn't get any worse, the man responsible for protecting him (Tom Hardy) stabs Hugh's son to death in front of him and leaves the wounded Glass for dead. The resourceful hunter gathers up the strength necessary to survive the harsh winters of Montana in the 1800's to find his Inception co-star in Alejandro G. Iñárritu's The Revenant.
This incredibly violent and bloody action drama could not be any more different than Iñárritu's last film, the awards-magnet Birdman. Where that film had Michael Keaton running through the Big Apple in his underwear, here Leonardo DiCaprio lies bleeding in the snow devouring a bison heart (for real). This movie is over 150 minutes of brutality after brutality, causing the audience I was with - made up of a solid mix of college students and AARP members - to jump and audibly gasp on a few occasions.
The Revenant is more of a survival film than an action film. There's plenty of arrows shot and bullets fired, but most of the film is Glass trudging through the snow finding anything he can to keep him going.
Cinematographer Lubezki, reuniting with Iñárritu after Birdman, flawlessly frames every shot. Any still from this movie can work as a film buff's desktop wallpaper. That helps when the slow-moving plot is crawling slower than DiCaprio, because at least there was always something pretty to look at.
But even Lubezki can only hold you over for so long. Some scenes overstay their welcome, while others would have served the cutting room floor better. This 150-minute flick would have benefited from another trip to the editing room.
Best part is your mind will never wander, because whenever the plot dragged, you can just admire DiCaprio's work. I don't think the Critters 3 actor has ever given a bad performance, but this is certainly new territory for the 41-year-old. It's one of the most engrossing and gross performances you could ever imagine, solidifying DiCaprio as one of the finest specimens Hollywood has to offer.
Same goes for Iñárritu. Turning a "living hell" production into anything decent is impressive on its own, but how his film - despite being brought down from a lethargic script - managed to be the dazzling and merciless piece of savagery that it is, is a miracle. I don't know what his next project is, but I've already bought a ticket for opening night.
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