A beautiful face with zero personality

Rating: 5/10 (30 January 2016)

When going in to see the latest film "The Revenant" from director Alejandro González Iñárritu, one cannot forgo some certain expectations that diverts your attention before the movie actually begins. You are, in the least knowledgeable scenario, aware that it stars Leonardo Dicaprio in the lead role. If you have been keeping up with cinema you know the director's name and his previous Best Picture winner, Birdman; further, if you if you have followed "The Revenant"'s production, you would hear countless stories of the troubles the crew faced shooting in sub-zero temperatures on natural locations, with all-natural lighting, and perhaps you would hear how Leonardo Dicaprio had to eat a real buffalo liver on camera.
Beyond what you perceive with these expectations, the film delivers nothing of value to the audience. Yes, DiCaprio is a competent, if not a particularly great actor. Yes, Iñárritu is a talented director who knows what he is doing, and yes, DiCaprio eats a real buffalo liver on camera along with the promise of some beautiful natural scenery. And that is precisely what the film delivers. However, what the film fails to do that would ultimately capitalize upon these individual elements, is create a cohesion that ties them and drives the movie forward as the viewer is gripped in Hugh Glass' survival story. And what happens here, when the vision is separated into these three distinct elements is a really pretty, really boring movie.
The plot is one of the film's more significant flaws. Iñárritu had assembled all the resources to create a singular artistic vision that would work the best outside a typical movie's generic plot conventions (for an example of this, see "Valhalla Rising" which very effectively combines its bleak and beautiful natural scenery with a rewarding and engaging plot based in abstraction). "Generic", however is the word that best describes "The Revenant"'s dragging plot. It's the most basic revenge story there could possibly be, and this really dampens the impact of Hugh Glass's real survival story. The sub-plot involving the Natives searching for one of their own ends up being an utterly pointless exercise that is totally isolated from the core of the movie beyond a weak convention for the ending. Furthermore, the movie is bogged down repeatedly with unnecessary flashbacks to Hugh Glass's dying wife and the evil white colonizers burning down the village. Towards the meat of the film, which is Hugh Glass's survival in the harsh winter wilderness, all these elements bear close to zero relevance.
The written dialogue is fine for the most part, and provides ample characterization to make the viewer care for some of the characters. DiCaprio has little to work with, but what he has to deliver he delivers decently. Domnhall Gleeson is very good and nuanced as the Captain. Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) however, is one of the film's highlights; although he does have some cheesy typical 'villain' lines, his character is one the viewer could sympathize with. In the frontier of "The Revenant", Fitzgerald is a man of realistic pragmatism and for the most part his actions constitute a realistic sequence of decisions that make his "villain" role a lot more compelling than some others that flood the market. If it had been some other actor, it would have been a very different performance and most likely, a less memorable one. Tom Hardy continues to prove to be one of Hollywood's greatest chameleons in recent times as he simply melts into the role.
The special effects that were used were very well-made, and did not distract; namely, the bear during one of the film's best and harrowing scenes, was an example of masterful CGI and the entire bear attack sequence was probably the best part of the movie, accentuated by Iñárritu's extended shot. It's brutal and messy, and very convincing. Beyond these instances of merit, the film is dragged down by an abundance of excessive gimmicks and cliché. The meta aspect of the filmmaking of the film supersedes the film itself a la "Boyhood" ("It took 12 years to make!" repeats everyone associated with it). So what if DiCaprio had to eat a real buffalo liver? He doesn't have to! He's an actor! The movie defines itself with all these media headline-grabbing gimmicks of how difficult it was to create and sure, one can appreciate the effort that went in and how pretty it looks. But beyond prettiness and Tom Hardy's performance, the movie is bogged down with irrelevant subplots, a generic revenge story, and an in-cohesiveness and lack of focus that makes the whole thing boring. If you really love to observe great technical filmmaking and enjoy films that take advantage of nature, then I would recommend "The Revenant". If you're looking for one of the year's best films, or a compelling story of survival, skip it.