Leo commands an empty landscape, Overrated survival film

Rating: 6/10 (19 January 2017)

The Revenant is a strong movie for the first half hour or so and then it reduces to a series of 'greatest hits' moments from survivalist films that we have seen before. This movie is about sixty minutes of material padded to two hours plus, and is too emotionally distant to be worth the endurance that it asks of the viewer.
With that in mind, the film has strong points. This is NOT remotely an award winning performance from Leo Dicaprio, but he is indeed commanding. He is one of those actors who can make himself seem bigger through his physical performance, and Leo has never felt this naturally big before. Tom Hardy also brings some a-game and knows how to be threatening through small nuances in his demeanour.
The Revenant is a well shot movie, making great use of camera work and the same wide lens effects that aided Birdman but the problem is that mostly there is nothing to look at but scenery. Leo wanders through the wilderness for a long time, leaving the audience with nothing but a chilly feeling. The Revenant is meant to be a tale of revenge but there is no sense of drive or character motivation which makes it worth investing in.
It's a clunky, and unmemorable film.