7.5/10

Rating: 7/10 (17 January 2016)

A haunting, complex, uncompromising piece of film of which its biggest success is how much it opens for a conversation about filmaking and the power of movies. It is really challenging in craft and provides for a very, very singular experience, despite some overbearing and slightly pretentious touches.
There is one thing that really struck me in thinking about the film: it could be really easy to hate on it for its flaws, because there are flaws and they are the reason this film isn't getting the universal acclaim people were expecting. The flaws it has are actually quite relevant: the screenplay isn't really anything special, there is so much acting thrown to your face in an way too overwhelming way. It is one of those films that really pushes the "look at us we're acting" thing and almost everybody is part of it. There also lots of breathing space that isn't really necessary and overall the whole thing really is thrown into your face in an overwhelming way that sometimes totally forgets subtlety and brings down also the film thematically. But the point is, all of these flaws are there and they would normally really knock a movie down, yet there is so much triumph here in the craft of filmaking, so much ambition, so much sheer cinema, it is really hard to get mad at anything of this. Basically the positives outweigh the negatives.
As much as I said that there's the "look at us we're actors" thing, of whom Inarritu is also to blame for, there is even more genuine fantastic work from them. Could DiCaprio have done with being a little more subtle in points? of course, but you simply can't discount a performance of this caliber based on that. He has problems in disappearing from the screen a an actor, but overall what he does here is some kind of remarkable. With his recent movies he is almost creating a new school of acting that isn't quite anything we've seen before, good or bad I don't know. Domnall Glesson and Will Poulter also have their chance to shine. Still, nobody manages to take over the Brando of our generation: Tom Hardy can do no wrong, he upstages all of the actors and steals every moment he is in, he is just a powerhouse.
A thought that really, really hit me after this film and that I cannot stop thinking about is how much I would now love to see Inarritu direct an action film. Just writing that makes me even more excited about it. He just has a thing were under his direction the technical aspect of a film is beyond debatable. It is just flawless. The sound, music, Lubezki's photography, everything, it just leaves your jaw dropped. He does take a little too much breathing time as I said before, but it is easily forgettable when you see what he can do when sh*t hits the fan. I repeat it, I just want to see him direct two hours of action now, that's how visceral this film is, it is astonishing. He reminds you what is the power of cinema and actually goes further in that in creating new ways to use the screen. There is a horse chase in this film where I couldn't believe what was happening with the camera and the shock value it has floored me.
As I said, if you really want to hate this film there is nothing stopping you, but as a fan of cinema and filmaking and as an obsessed lover of the craft behind everything involving film, "The Revenant" was really an achievement.