Very Intense and Gorgeous to Look at

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2016)

I went into this movie a bit skeptical. The story sounded pretty dumb, and I hoped that there would be more to it. Luckily, there was, and I was very impressed.
The Revenant had a plot that sounded like it could be awesome, but when I thought about it it sounded dumb. A man, Hugh Glass, is mauled by a bear and left for dead by his hunting party, then wakes up to seek revenge on them. Thankfully, that wasn't the only thing. I won't say anymore to avoid spoilers, but there's a lot more to it than that. You never really know what Glass is trying to accomplish though until the very end, which is actually kind of interesting. He's alone for the majority of the movie, so he has no reason to state his plans to anyone, including himself. He just has his thoughts, which we never hear.
The characters are pretty good too. Despite DiCaprio not having too many lines his acting was quite good, and you actually kind of feel for his character at the end. You want him to succeed, which I feel a little bad about (wanting him to kill someone). Tom Hardy's character, Fitzgerald, was great too. Having more actual lines, I felt like he was better developed. I barely recognized him either, his costume and accent were fantastic. In short, the characters and acting were great.
There are a few things that make this movie stand out particularly, one of those being the cinematography. The sights are absolutely stunning, and it's really amazing that most of the movie was practical effects. It wasn't just a bunch of dudes running around a green screen, they were running around in the freezing cold. The movie is always incredibly beautiful to look at. It also features a handful of long shots without cuts, which is really impressive. Entire battle scenes were sometimes made up of a single shot.
The movie is very solid for the first 2 hours, but the last 40 minutes are astounding. Considering how the movie had gone thus far and its based off true events, I wasn't actually sure what the outcome would be, and I was on the edge of my seat for the entire thing. Thankfully, the ending was not disappointing, it was easily one of the best climaxes I've ever seen.
Overall The Revenant is stunning. With a solid plot, great characters, great acting, fantastic cinematography, and a fantastic climax, it's easily one of the the best movies of 2015. Unfortunately the movie took a little while to get going, but maybe that was just because I was tired when I started it. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing this again, and I would highly recommend anyone to check this out.