Easier to admire than enjoy.

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2020)

I'm still torn on The Revenant. On one hand the production is an amazing accomplishment in a way few movie have been before. It's mixture of Tarkovsky-like visuals and rarely photographed backdrops are easy to admire as well. On the other hand I was left feeling the characters and story weren't created with the same majesty. The core story could have easily been transplanted into a B western from the 1950's. Maybe that was the intention but if so I don't understand why. This had the skeleton of a transcendental work-of-art but the body laid over that skeleton was nothing but stale hokum. I will probably return to watch it again in 5 or so years and see if my opinion has changed for better or worse. As it stands, I'm torn on it's quality.