Hateful 2

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2016)

The Revenant is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and is written by Mark L. Smith and Alejandro González Iñárritu. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, and Will Poulter along with Domhall Gleeson and Forrest Goodluck.
A frontiersman named Hugh Glass on an fur trade expedition in the 1820s is on a quest for survival after being brutally mauled by a bear.
The Revenant is a movie that really grew on me over the course of a week. When I initially saw it, Christmas Day, I hated this movie with a passion, but after a week of contemplation, I can officially say The Revenant is one of the best films of the year.
If for nothing else, this movie is spectacular just on a visual level. With an astounding feat in cinematography,mastery of CGI, (especially in a scene with a huge bear) and the use of natural lighting, this movie transports you to the unforgiving and ill- tempered wilderness, Mister Hugh Glass had to trudge through.
The direction by Iñárritu in this movie was a bit uneven. He made the active decision to use continuous shots which worked to some extent, but when the focus is placed on multiple moving subjects, it becomes rather disorienting. With that said, these continuous shots work at holding the intensity when the focus is placed directly on DiCaprio and/or Hardy.
Moving past its visual style and into the depths of tits plot, this movie was met with a myriad of problems. The largest of these problems involved this movie's genre. Unsure if its a survival drama or a revenge thriller but sure it wants to be art-house, The Revenant, in turn, fails at all three. It flops as a art-house movie because there isn't enough in the story to be something mind bending. It fails as a revenge thriller because aside from three phenomenal confrontations, revenge is rarely mentioned. Finally, it fails as a survival drama because of the predictability behind Glass' character.
Speaking of Mister Glass and switching back to the positives, Leonardo DiCaprio barely uttering a word in English, gives the single best physical performance, I think I've ever seen. DiCaprio masters his character to deliver a spectacle of absolute realism. Brooding, somber, and broken DiCaprio earns himself another Oscar nod.
Tom Hardy is also absolutely astounding and does manage to out shine DiCaprio in some scenes nearing the end of the movie. I foresee a possible Oscar nod on his part as well. A major surprise for me was to see Will Poulter deliver a very nuanced performance, more than holding his own against the two seasoned actors.
The Revenant is a deeply flawed but ultimately wholly entertaining movie with great performances all-round and a great deal of visual charm. The Revenant gets a B+ or a 7/10.