'The Revenant' truly nails the battle between man and nature in what I believe will be one of the most studied films of the 21st century.

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2017)

Though the acting is undoubtedly some of the best I've seen from Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy (two of the finest actors alive today) the true stars of the film are its visionary cinematographer (Emmanuel Lubezki) and director (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu), who between 'Birdman' (my favorite film of 2014) and 'The Revenant' have just rewritten the book on their perspective talents. I kept thinking to myself, "this looks like a Terrance Malick film", which has everything to do with Lubezki's work with Malick on the acclaimed 'The Tree of Life' and the grossly overlooked 'The New World', which remains my favorite historical love story to date. A warning to those squeamish towards violence, 'The Revenant' is brutal; placing the audience in the heart of the battle to the point where you can smell the death and decay. By contrast, I've never seen more breathtaking panoramic shots of nature on the silver screen. 'The Revenant' truly nails the battle between man and nature in what I believe will be one of the most studied films of the 21st century.