Beautiful film about everything but beauty

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2016)

A beautiful film about everything but beauty.
From the very moment that the film started I knew that I was going to love it. A slow sweeping long take featuring beautiful scenery and the calming flow of water soon interrupted by the interference of man.
The opening battle sequence sounds like something that would be described in something like a Star wars film, however this (and it is a) battle sequence is one to take your breath away. A brutal depiction of small scale war, the scene takes place in one shot weaving in and out between bullets, arrows and death. Putting viewers in the middle of the battlefield, creating personal conflict. There aren't really any 'sides' to this scene, all that's present is desperation and utter unnecessary viciousness.
The actors of the film all did stellar jobs on their performances, more so than most in films I've ever seen in my life. I'm not one to recognize great acting or even bad acting, usually I buy the actors playing as their characters, but in this it was beyond that. I believed that Hardy's Fitzgerald was the biggest scumbag on the face of the earth and I felt the betrayal, desperation and will to survive through DiCaprio's protagonist. Man did this movie make me hate Tom Hardy! But most importantly I just have to mention the actor Domhnall Gleeson, this guy is the definition of diversity. Most recently he played a cartoonishly evil Star wars character in The Force Awakens, before that I'd last seen him in Unbroken and earliest I'd seen him in About Time as a charming romantic comedy lead. I look forward to seeing more of this guy and literally don't know what to expect from him either.
Beyond the actors however making it's appearances larger than life was simply the setting. Beautiful shots all throughout the film, used as not only establishing shots but interesting angles and shots for even moments of dialogue and general conversation. The Revenant is a visual marvel. From the unique look of the world we see through the film's directors eyes to the astonishingly impressive long takes that I was in love with. The film took what I loved about Birdman (The film making) and added (What I thought Birdman was lacking) fantastic characters and an interesting story which happened to revolve around revenge and survival.
Another thing about the world this film was set in was that it felt full and real. Other people in the film had their own stories, their own fights and motives that we saw glimpses of even though we ultimately followed solely the protagonist. This made the movie feel larger, like a real piece of history.
And not to mention the sincere intensity that this movie holds throughout its entire run time. (Which is saying something considering it's just short of 3 hours.) The pure violence in this movie was actually quite shocking, and that's saying something coming from somebody who has watched some of the "Most disturbing films of all time."
Early on in the film is an in-famous scene featuring a bear, I won't spoil anything beyond this scene but I will say that you can feel this scene. You believe this scene. It holds you and it keeps going for longer than comfortable and it's great. This isn't a movie you "Enjoy" It's a movie that you experience and personally, a movie I fell in love with almost instantly.
The unique lighting style and the subtle sounds showing that the movie wasn't afraid to use silence combine to make a realistic and fierce portrayal of a look into a fictionalized past. It's a long one but I feel like the pacing is perfect, I wasn't bored at all and there were times where not much was actually happening but not once did I feel like it was slow and dragging. This is one tough act to follow, and as much as I'm looking forward to movies like Civil War and Deadpool, I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be my favourite movie of the year.
10/10