A great gem for the eyes to see

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2015)

Hugh Glass is a military scout. With his Indian half-breed son Hawk, he serve in with John Fitzgerald, and Jim Bridger under Commander Andrew Henry, tasked to hunt animal pelts. They have to face both the Indians and the French. While hunting, Glass returns back to camp after hearing a commotion when the Indians attack. They flee to the river as the attack kills 33 men. Fitzgerald suggest a route but Glass suggest an opposite route. Henry listens to Glass and they rest for the night. At first light Glass goes ahead first as Hawk remains with the company. But Glass enters a Grizzly bear's domain and gets attacked viciously. He manages to kill the beast, but his throat is injured badly, making him unable to speak. The company finds him and carries him. Fitzgerald suggests to leave Glass as apparently they can't save him. Eventually Henry gives up, but he insists that Glass die naturally, promising money for three men who stay with Glass. Hawk and Bridger volunteer, and surprisingly so did Fitzgerald.
But Fitzgerald gets impatient, offering Glass a quick death if he just blinks. Glass closes his eyes for some time, and when he opens them Fitzgerald considers it as blinking then tries to kill him. Hawk catches Fitzgerald and the two struggle, but eventually Fitzgerald kills Hawk. Bridger comes and Fitzgerald convince him to bury Glass alive in a shallow grave. He stops as Glass is neck deep. Glass crawls out of his grave, surviving on eating bits and pieces until he can stand again. Able to walk, Glass meets an Indian man carving meat from a dead beast. Glass begs for some and the man gives, but he faints after eating. The Indian is actually pursuing his daughter Powaqa's kidnappers. He helps Glass after he explains his ordeal. The man builds Glass a makeshift shelter when they face a blizzard. When Glass wakes up the man has gone. Glass finds a French trappers' camp, and waits until nightfall then readies to steal a horse. A French man brings an Indian girl and rapes her near Glass. He rescues the girl and they escape on a stolen horse, but Glass dropped the flask Bridger left him.
The girl leaves Glass and The French pursuers catches up on him, so he runs off of a cliff, killing his horse. As another blizzard looms, Glass removes the horse's entrails and use the carcass as a cocoon. One of the French wanders into Henry's fort, bringing the Bridger's flask. Henry wonders if it's the missing Hawk, so they set out to find him. They instead find Glass himself. Henry rides back ahead but Fitzgerald had already gone with the company's money. Glass reveals the truth, asking supplies to hunt Fitzgerald. Henry goes with him. As Glass spots a camp's smoke in the wilderness, he and Henry check it out from opposite directions. But Henry meets Fitzgerald, who then kills him. Glass finds the body and uses it to lure Fitzgerald out. He succeeds and they fight a bloody melee. Glass finally has the upper hand and readies his killing blow. But he spots a band of Indians up the river and remembers the words of the previous Indian man that revenge is in God's hands, and he lets Fitzgerald floats on the current to them, who kills him.
Another great movie this month, The Revenant (2015) is full of great work in acting, directing and effects. The story is like other revenge movies, although I don't think the movie was clear enough at it. There's a lot of unnecessary footage if we see it story-wise. There are quite a lot of other story elements which are not concluded in the end.
But I must say again that the movie is a gem technical-wise. It's a beautiful sight to see. Inarritu was very kind in supplying us with another trick up his sleeve. Here you see a lot of mind bending close up shots of crazy stunts. They are enabled by the help of moving camera and impeccable timing execution that lets it require less editing.
There are many moments where the movie builds up suspense with the camera closing up on the actors, pans away, rotates to view the surroundings, and suddenly we have them getting shot at point blank. The special effects are done well that the stunts achieved their intended effect. Many times I was left behind as I was wondering how did they rigged the stunt that just happened when suddenly the movie just shoves another crazy stunt in my face.
The cinematography is great. Emmanuel Lubezki is really looking like he's aiming for another Oscar. Aside from the great job on the main story elements, there are also very pretty photography in this movie. Lubezki did a great job in capturing the spirit of the location to insert into the movie.
The acting overall is just superb. Leonardo DiCaprio did great in handling the dominant focus his character has as the entire movie mostly centers on Glass. Tom Hardy managed to bend himself into yet another believable character, despite the original reasoning of his apathy to Glass' ordeal remains unclear. Domnhall Gleeson's star is clearly rising steadily, as he secured roles in three acclaimed movie this year so far; here, Star Wars Episode VII, and Ex Machina. Will Poulter nicely adds depth to the whole story, as with the native American cast.
For me The Revenant (2015) deserves a 7 out of 10 score. It would have been more enjoyable for the ordinary people if there's less duration that only contains silence. I did enjoy the movie though, yet I don't think many other ordinary people will too.