Gruelling

Rating: 7/10 (17 October 2016)

'The Revenant' is visually stunning. Looks fantastic, and both landscape and action scenes are handled with genuinely cinematic flair.
Unfortunately, the narrative doesn't do anything or go anywhere unexpected. Our relentless revenger, Mr DiCaprio, starts off gnarled and surly, and ends the same way. Similarly, Tom Hardy's villain is clearly an irredeemable villain from his first grumblesome grunt. The nearest we get to character development comes through the portrayal of the young Captain in charge of the trapping exhibition - and his fate, too, is telegraphed.
Leo is good, as is Hardy, but they are caricatures - I've seen both give many much more complex and nuanced performances, and don't really see why THIS revenger-greatest-hits should get them so many gong nominations. It's a commonplace revenge flick with Art-house sensibilities.