You Only Die Twice

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2016)

A year ago around this time I think everyone predicted that The Revenant would finally be the film to get Leonardo DiCaprio his Oscar. While I'm not sure his performance holds up against the other greats of 2015, particularly Fassbender as Steve Jobs, I will say that The Revenant is a cinematic achievement and one that should be recognized. It contains probably the most impressive cinematography of any film of this past year to go along with the jarring brutality this story brings to the table. While I don't think The Revenant is the best film of the year, it certainly deserves to be in the discussion.
The Revenant is a far more artsy film than I expected. It's directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, director of last years' best picture winner Birdman, and done so brilliantly. The direction along with Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography is some of the best of the year. I think the problem with the film lies more with the script, also co-written by Iñárritu. The film is centered on DiCaprio's character seeking revenge against the man who left him for dead and killed his son after getting mauled by a bear, but the film lacks balance in its storytelling. I love the brutal, raw, grittiness of the story and you certainly feel the intensity in those scenes. But the minimal dialogue and in Tom Hardy's case, sometimes inaudible dialogue, you sometimes lose the emotional connection to the characters.
The gorgeous cinematography does tend to overtake the films other appealing aspects, such as the great performances from Hardy and DiCaprio. Knowing about the incredibly difficult shoot they went through behind the scenes attempting to make the film helps their Oscar case in my opinion now that I've seen it. But I somehow still expected more from both of them.
One of the best parts about The Revenant, that The Hateful Eight also did extremely well, was set the tone of the film through its atmosphere. In both films you feel what the characters feel. When DiCaprio was hungry or thirsty, I was too. It helps that the film was shot entirely in natural light and real locations, which is unusual for a main stream feature. There are plenty of memorable scenes in The Revenant including an incredible opening long-take fight sequence, the now famous bear mauling, and the films brutally bloody climax. The Revenant is far from a let down, but I also don't think it reaches the heights that we expected when we heard about the film over a year ago.
+DiCaprio's commitment
+Legendary cinematography
+Memorable scenes
+Sets the atmosphere perfectly
-Perhaps a little too artsy
-Lacks balance in its storytelling
8.2/10