another meh full of sound and fury

Rating: 5/10 (9 March 2016)

The Revenant attempts grandness but ultimately lacks something.
Maybe it is the lack of character establishment - we join the saga already in progress and are given little reason to care about mountain man guide Glass. Sure, the flashbacks show he had a hard loss and dearly loves his son but who doesn't?
Maybe it was the lack of visual variety - how many long shots looking up at the vast sky through towering trees are enough? Terrence Malik he is not.
Maybe it was the lack of real geographical place. High granite mountain ranges and vast open plains with roaring rivers. One group goes over a high mountain pass to get to the fort, Glass goes down and around to get to the same place.
In the end, I just wasn't that moved. Although the snow avalanche was nice.
Also, the dialog was not in vernacular of the times. It detracted from the overall effect to have characters saying things like "Jesus Christ" and other contemporary expressions.
just sayin'...