Much More Than Just Leo

Rating: 10/10 (4 February 2016)

Great Director? check... Great cinematographer? check... Grade A actors? check... The Revenant has been number 1 on my watch list since I first heard it was getting made. The movie took the best director ( Innaritu) and cinematographer (Lubezki) of the the last few years and matched them with Leo and Tom Hardy in the main roles. I am slightly biased since those two actors have been my favorites for years, but this combination made The Revenant the best movie of the year for me!!
The Revenant is based on a true story, as Hugh Glass (Leo) has to battle a winder of the 1820's. Glass is attacked by a bear, and then has his son killed by John Fitzgerald (Hardy) as he is left for dead. Glass then starts a track for revenge as the story unfolds.
I was first interested in this movie because Leo was set as the star. I was not disappointed in his performance at all as I believe he should win the Oscar this year. He was not the best actor in this movie though. That title should go to Tom Hardy. He gets so into this character that its hard to even tell that its him! I was shocked that he didn't get nominated for a Globe, but I think he should definitely be in the running for the Oscar. He is magnificent and had his best performance of his career.
Leo made me interested in The Revenant, but that is not the reason I loved this movie. The scenery and technical aspects of this movie were outstanding. I was left in complete shock after seeing some of the scenes. How can they possibly shoot a movie so well?? I was left wondering how they put together a few of the scenes while keeping them so realistic. A great example of this is the bear attack seen, which should go down as one of the best shot scenes in cinema history. Put these scenes together with the beautiful scenery and landscape, and it is easy to say that Inarritu made a masterpiece.
The Revenant is quite simply the best movie I have seen in the last few years. There is no flaw. The acting, the editing, the visual, etc... All of it was done to perfection. Expect The Revenant to clean house this year at the Oscars, as it should.