The Revenant (2015)

[sabrecmc]

Saw this while my daughter went with a friend to see TFA again.  I think she got the better deal, though Leo was good, as always.  Not his best film in my opinion, but very good.  The film really dragged for me in the middle.  And the ending was just sort of unsatisfying.  I don' t know.  It was good, but it isn't something I would see again or really quite recommend, though I don't hate it or anything.  Just didn't quite work for me.  Leo will probably win the Oscar for this, but I'll just consider it sort of a lifetime achievement Oscar.  

[Blankments]

The Revenant is a movie that both lives and dies by its direction. Inarritu shows some real chops in this, especially in directing action scenes. Unfortunately, his themes are hackneyed, obvious, and overall just obnoxiously blunt. There are sequences in the middle act of this film that just shouldn't be there at all, but you know, humanity is depraved, and revenge is a worthless endeavor. It's a true shame, because the battles are really done, and a lot of the survival stuff is entertaining too. The bear mauling doesn't disappoint... although, Lubezki does. It sounds weird to say, but Inarritu is holding Lubezki back. Both this and Birdman suffered from obnoxious closeups barely in focus, adding confusion more than artistry. That said, Lubezki doesn't disappoint at all on the vistas. They're truly gorgeous and worth the price of admission alone. Leonardo DiCaprio has been getting a lot of hype for this performance, but it's ultimately fairly dull and overwrought like most of the film. Tom Hardy fares better, delivering a fun villain that's got the best monologues and sequences of the movie. Poulter and Gleeson are great in their smaller roles; if their characters were in the film more, their performances would definitely steal the show. The score is just there, and the technical aspects such as makeup and costuming are exquisite. Ultimately, The Revenant is worth seeing, if just for the tremendous action sequences and Tom Hardy's enjoyable performance, but it just ends being an okay addition to 2015's "Awards Drama" roster. C+

[Water Bottle]

The film depends 100% on it's brutality to make any impact rather than building up characters that are compelling and rootable. Still, beautiful cinematography saves this from being a total waste.

 

B

[MikeQ]

This was one of Hardy's worst performances. He really chews away at that accent, which drops in and out, with his mouth barely orating in some weird attempt to sound, I don't know, "gritty" and "real". I found him distracting, and the film could have been better in part with a better antagonist for Glass.

 

There were some terrific moments in this film - when Fitz tells Glass to blink if he wants him to kill him - jesus, that is hard to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship established between Glass and his son. And I don't want to minimize the impact of the direction and cinematography in parts of the film. But the film doesn't work quite right as a whole. I can't articulate exactly right now why it doesn't quite work for me. I think it's because the narrative drive kind of disappears in the middle of the film, and the middle portion doesn't demonstrate to me how Glass gets from point A to point B in terms of his character arc. What does Glass learn? He has a real physical journey getting back to the outpost, but what was his spiritual/emotional journey? It wasn't evident to me, at least, so then when he makes the decision to 'let go' at the end, I'm not sure how or why. And the film could have been edited down and been tighter while still retaining it's reflective/thoughtful and beautiful quality.

 

I will write a longer review at some point if I have the time.

 

Peace,

Mike

 

 

 

[Ozymandias]

Just got back.  Basically, the first 30 minutes = holy fucking shit this is amazing.  Unfortunately after that it quickly becomes pretty damn boring with very little happening until the very end... the beautiful cinematography and scenery basically keeps it watchable.  I'm gonna laugh if this is what finally gets Leo his Oscar.  Hardy was awesome but underused.

 

C

Edited January 16, 2016 by Ozymandias

[department store basement]

The Revenant has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR excellent performances - DiCaprio, Hardy, Gleeson, and Poulter. Unfortunately, it rests almost completely on their merits. I'm not a fan of Inarritu's excessively showy decision to mostly use long tracking shots for the first 2 hours of the movie (the last 30 minutes use a lot more quick cuts). I thought the VFX was pretty bad - the animals looked blatantly CGI and the matte paintings were extremely obvious. There's really not much in the script - Glass's scenes just one way to escape death after another (I enjoyed all the scenes with Fitz's gang though). I felt like the movie could have been trimmed to remove all the repetitiveness. I almost fell asleep before Glass found Fitz's gang and the movie started to pick up the pace again. The best part was definitely the final fight between Glass and Fitz, thanks to the great choreography and both DiCaprio and Hardy putting their hearts into it.

 

73/100 - high B

Edited January 16, 2016 by department store basement

[MrPink]

Will Poulter really is terrific in this and hasn't got too much credit for it. I was impressed by him.

[4815162342]

I really really liked the first 95% of this movie.

 

But Leo's "moral choice" at the end is hypocritical idiotic bullshit and then his complete Oscar begging look for the final shot is ridiculous.

 

 

Even though there was zero buildup for his sudden decision to not finish off Hardy, it would have been far more palatable if he simply walked away instead of pushing Hardy into the river to float right to the bloodthirsty tribe hunting down every single white person they saw. At least then he could actually rationalize it as leaving it up to God/Nature by allowing Hardy a fighting chance, however tiny and slim, to escape and live.

[4815162342]

You know, since they changed so much from the Glass' actual journey they should have gone full surreal fantasy frontier epic. I was disappointed when the giant pyramid of skulls was just a figment of Leo's daydreaming.

[TalismanRing]

46 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

I really really liked the first 95% of this movie.

 

But Leo's "moral choice" at the end is hypocritical idiotic bullshit and then his complete Oscar begging look for the final shot is ridiculous.

 

 

Even though there was zero buildup for his sudden decision to not finish off Hardy, it would have been far more palatable if he simply walked away instead of pushing Hardy into the river to float right to the bloodthirsty tribe hunting down every single white person they saw. At least then he could actually rationalize it as leaving it up to God/Nature by allowing Hardy a fighting chance, however tiny and slim, to escape and live.

 

As soon as they changed the story to insert a murdered son and an outright villain any emotional or spiritual journey that would have ended in forgiveness and letting Fitzgerald go would be bogus.  Add to it the Captain's murder and who would believe he'd let him live?  And he most definitely doesn't - he pushed him right out to those that would brutally finish him off.   It's impossible to see that ending as anything more than the fulfillment of vengeance.  Glass has no arc in this story and no purpose but to endure then avenge. 

Which might work if it was an action film but it's not after the first 30 minutes.  This film is far too long for what little there is to it but it all looks very beautiful.

[Avatree]

On 1/9/2016 at 5:04 PM, lilmac said:

Never seen a better performance by an actor before.  Incredible.

LOL. Please tell me you are joking.

 

Puss in Boots did it better.

[Vanilla]

Great film, everything is fine, though I understand if someone has a problem with it.

 

8.5/10

[redfirebird2008]

Just saw it. Hardy was great. Reminded me of Bogart's character in Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Wish he would win an Oscar but it seems the politics are with Stallone as the old guy. 

 

Cinematography was amazing. Leo was good as usual but I wouldn't say it was his best performance. 

 

Movie was about 20 minutes too long. Overall a B or B+. 

[Avatree]

lol @ Tom Hardy being nominated. Dicaprio was okay but Hardy was godawful.

[Jake Gittes]

Hardy gives easily the best performance in the movie. Once the (very good) first third was over, I was struggling to stay awake whenever he wasn't on screen. 

[CoolioD1]

He literally does like this Yosemite Sam hop at one point. he's great. 

[Ezen Baklattan]

It's like Leo and Tom's characters in Wolf of Wall Street and Mad Max: Fury Road were switched for this movie.

[mattmav45]

At this point Hardy's accents take on their own life force. I'm not sure he knows what the hell he's doing, but I'll be damned if l don't find it entertaining.

 

He may as well have started a new nationality based on the accent here. Awesome.

[Dan9]

Wonderfully immersive - great performances and great cinematography. But ultimately a movie that I admire more than one that I love. 

 

B 

[TalismanRing]

Hardy's performance was certainly the most lively, but then Yosemite Sam has always been a live wire.