Perfect combination of pain, despair, revenge, and justice

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2016)

I am writing this after just getting out of watching this movie for the first time, but this movie is about as close to perfect as I can perceive. As my title says, this movie portrays Leo's characters pain, despair, revenge, and justice better than anything ever.
I went into this movie with high expectations. i had heard from friends that this could be Leo's chance to finally win an Oscar, and being an avid fan of his, this excited me. But realistically, this could be nominated and win every category that it can. The entire story was seamless. For me, after watching it only once, I didn't see any plot holes, I was entranced from beginning to end, and the ending left me speechless. Needless to say, I was absolutely blown away.
Tom Hardy, while only a supporting role, and very much the antagonist of this story, was incredible. He portrayed his character beautifully, showing the hate for the Native Americans so vividly, but also showing the side of him that made you understand that he did everything because he believed it to be the right thing to do. His character was eerily funny, making me laugh at times where I felt terrible for laughing (but that could just be the twisted side of me).
Leo, on the other hand, was just as great, obviously playing the protagonist. He displayed the pain that his character felt perfectly (although a lot of that credit has to go to the director). In his eyes, in every shot, you could see the drive for his character to find justice. He showed the fear he had to overcome after the bear attack that was displayed in the trailer. While he said very few actual words the entire film, each seemed to rock me to the core. His struggle to find revenge for the people he loved was so pure and real, I'm truly baffled by the how beautifully he portrayed his character.
Finally, my favorite part of this movie was that it displayed the life of the settlers of the west unbelievably well. It showed how difficult life was, the vast difficulties that the settlers had with the natives (warranted or not), the struggles that every person living there had with money, cold, food, and generally trying to survive. And to top it all off, it was set in an incredible part of the US, in (in my opinion) the most beautiful time of the year there. While sitting there feeling horrible for the various characters, I sat there marveling at the beauty of the land around them, appreciating the all too infrequent looks back into the past.
All in all, Alejandro G. Iñárritu has created another masterpiece. I would highly recommend any person who truly loves movies to go and see it for yourself. Fare warning, it was bloody, gruesome, and full of swearing, but it is also perfectly placed in order to make the movie so much better. I loved this movie, will be buying it when it comes out on DVD, and will watch the Oscars that much more anxiously because I truly believe this could be Leo's time to finally win an Oscar (along with probably 6 or 7 more for the rest of the movie and cast). While saying something is a 10 out of 10 is difficult, this movie has earned it. Pay the 10 bucks and see it in theaters while you can. ENJOY!!