Disappointing

Rating: 3/10 (24 February 2016)

Having a passion for both movies and the great outdoors it will be of no surprise that I've been very excited about the release of The Revenant for quite some time. In the hands of a talented Director and arguably Hollywoods best acting talents on board what could possibly go wrong?
I can't overstate how disappointed I was with this movie, to all the reviewers on here who give 9 or 10 star ratings i feel the need to say that the Emperor really has got no clothes on.
I agree that The Revenant is a visually stunning movie and if thats all it takes to make great entertainment for 2 hours I suggest you save the price of your cinema tickets and go enjoy your local woods or beauty spot for free. Personally I believe that great cinematography, acting and CGI are all irrelevant if the plot is second rate, and here in lies my great problem with a movie that had a really incredible, albeit rather embellished story to work with.
If as some reviewers have written this is a story of mans resilience against the harsh forces of nature, then why did the film makers feel the need to discard some of the most interesting elements of Glass's story pertaining to that. For instance how he used maggots to eat away at his infections in order to avoid Gangrene or the raft he fashioned to travel downstream without dying of hypothermia, a condition that Decaprio,s character seemed strangely immune to. Instead they add a rather laughable revenge plot that even Charles Bronson or Steven Seagal would have considered too cliché. When will Hollywood learn that killing the bad guy who killed your loved one, is not just a very dissatisfying and predictable narrative its also downright insulting to the intelligence of the viewing public. Lets not forget to add in the clichéd ghostly appearances of his lost loves, people who had literally zero character development, to complete the disappointment. The only saving graces of this movie is the well paced and interesting opening battle sequence and Tom Hardys performance, proving yet again that he is among the very elite of acting talent. Its a great shame the script writing didn't match his contribution.
My advice to anyone considering going to see this movie, is to leave after the first half hour, go straight home and watch Deliverance or Into the Wild or even go look at some trees, it takes more resilience than Hugh Glass himself showed in the wilderness to get to the end of this film.