Strongly directed with a bravura lead acting performance

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2016)

Just give Leonardo DiCaprio the Oscar now. That is how good he is in this film. The surprise for me was how good everything else was.
I went to see THE REVENANT under the impression that it was a brutal, tough movie with a tour-de-force performance by Leo as a Mountain Man who seeks revenge after being left for dead following a Grizzly Bear attack...and I would be right...it had all that (the Grizzly Bear attack is pretty, well, grisly). But it has so much more going for it.
If you recall, Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu won the Oscar last year for BIRDMAN, a picture that was a "stunt", in that he shot it to appear that it took place in one long take - a stunt that ultimately fell short for me. The good news here is that he tries the stunt, in smaller doses, in this film and succeeds mostly. The opening scene is a Native American attack on a group of Fur Trappers and is shot as one long take that gives the feeling of chaos and uncertainty that this sort of surprise attack would give. He also uses the long take technique in the Bear attack, to show the isolation and the feeling of "no way out" and, finally, he used it very well in the climactic fight scene to show the visceral nature of the Mountain Men who's main instinct is to just survive.
There is sparse dialogue in this film and it that works well. These "Mountain Men" are used to being alone in the wilderness, so this sparseness of speech is apropro. The actors, then, need to use expressions, gestures and posture to convey what is going on inside their heads - and they do so. None more than DiCaprio who (literally) has to claw his way out of the wilderness to survive and gives the type of Award winning performance through action and expression that is necessary for this film to succeed without going "over the top".
Tom Hardy, yet again, is a formidable antagonist. Domhall Gleeson continues to build on his resume with an impressive performance as the Captain who just might be in over his head. The 4th main protagonist in this film is a young Jim Bridger, played with strong naivete by Will Poulter, who gets better every time I see him.
Is this a great film? I don't think so. I think it is a very good film. Innarritu has long stretches of "pretty pictures" that look STUNNING on the screen but doesn't add much to the story, so the 2 hour, 36 minute running time seems a bit bloated and there is a sub- plot about an aging Native American searching for his daughter that I saw how it would dovetail into main narrative a mile away.
But these are quibbles in a very strong movie with strong direction and an exceptional leading turn.
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)