What Else Must Poor Leonardo DiCaprio Do to Win an Oscar

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2016)

Despite previous efforts in 'The Wolf of Wall Street', 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape', 'The Departed' and 'Titanic', just to name a few, Leonardo DiCaprio is still awaiting his first academy award. BUT, after watching 'The Revenant', you will realise that the wait is finally over! After getting mauled by a bear and eventually rising from the dead, poor Leo embarks on a conquest across the freezing landscape in a story governed by the idea of revenge. The film also explores, rather cleverly, many different themes including the wind, the trees and their deep roots. Asides the brilliant acting performances of Leonardo DiCaprio and also Tom Hardy who definitely deserves his nomination for best Supporting Actor, the visuals in this film are top class, with the snowy mountains providing a fierce backdrop for the film itself. However, I do not believe this film is as good as the acting. The story itself, and the dialogue (of which there is very little) was not Oscar-worthy. The cinematography on the other hand is as good as it gets with the bear-attack being as real and unbearable as possibly imaginable. The struggles of life for Hugh Glass (Leo) are very well portrayed as his survival skills are put to the absolute limit. Overall, a decent-good film with lots of realistic violence and two superb acting performances. However, if you came to the cinema to escape the January cold, you'd be very, very wrong.7.0/10