Mr Invincible

Rating: 8/10 (19 January 2016)

When we were young, we used to play a word game which we called "Fortunately/Unfortunately". It was quite a straightforward game to play, with one player setting the scene by saying something like "Doris went to the park one day". The next player would respond by saying "Unfortunately, as she was walking to the park, a giant girl-eating lizard jumped out from behind a telephone box". The first player then needed to respond by saying something like "Fortunately, it had just eaten another girl and so it was all full up".
Watching The Revenant reminded me hugely of this game. Leonardo Di Caprio is your classic white man, Glass, who is down with the native Americans, nursing a lost wife and looking to protect his "half-breed" son (as he's charmingly referred to by Tom Hardy's compelling, although somewhat garbled, villain Fitzgerald). To say Glass gets knocked back every time he tries to step forward is underplaying the extent of the trials and tribulations he faces.
He's beaten, battered, shot at and stabbed, dunked in ice cold water, dragged through snow, and yet he still keeps on coming. Strangely though, I felt that the director manages to keep things just about credible and the unfortunate events never dawdled or overstayed their welcome, and despite its length, this movie keeps your interest throughout. The camera-work really is astounding, a dizzying whirl that plonks the viewer right at the epicentre of the action. The landscapes and light are really to die for, it's a gorgeous visceral experience throughout and really is a feast for sore eyes.
Hardy's characterisation of Fitzgerald was, for me, the standout performance, even if some of his dialogue is so broad as to be more or less incoherent. However, the brooding sense of malice and unrestrained anger he transmits with a raised eyebrow or a steely-eyed look is astounding. Di Caprio by comparison says very little, for the very good reason that his throats been slashed, leading to a mild moment of humour when he desperately tries to drink some clean water. Which very quickly then transmutes into yet another gory scene that makes you squirm. And that happens frequently throughout.
The plotting and narrative are probably the weakest elements of the production, however, and some of the events felt slightly too pat and contrived to truly hit the roof. The dream sequences in particular didn't add a great deal to the overall package although I can see why they were included. Especially if you go away and read about the actual Hugo Glass, you wonder why IÃ±Ã¡rritu and co needed to invent some of the story in the way that they did when the real-life story sounded quite compelling in the first place. However, those are petty complaints really and I have to say, this is well worth spending two and half hours of your time.
Unfortunately, I had a bad back on the day that I went to see it. Fortunately, I completely forgot about it whilst watching this movie, it was that good.