A spectacle to behold and an amazing story..

Rating: 9/10 (16 January 2016)

Leonardo Dicaprio.. wow, he has literally no competition this year, the Oscar is practically in his hands and it is very well deserved. The fact that this film is based on a true story truly amazes me. Once again a reminder of why Dicaprio is my favourite actor of all time.
He stars as Hugh Glass, a man who loses everything and is left for dead by his own men after being mauled by a bear. The film played out very differently to how i was expecting, for example scenes with Glass aren't very dialogue based at all, but i really liked this. It gave a better sense of emotion and let us relate to him in an almost eerie way. We go on this journey with him and we feel isolated with him which makes the film so compelling and reminds us that this is man who has suffered through everything on the way. Tom Hardy also gives a really good performance. We have seen him in a lot and each time he is very different, this film is no exception. I really hated his character, which made the performance so great. Even when he played villains such as Bane i didn't feel such a villainous nature to the character, but here he is such a horrible person that you cant help but get sucked in to the performance he gives.
Making this film itself must have been a huge challenge. I heard a lot of crew left the project and i can see why. Also, the film is very gritty and realistic meaning there are scenes that are flat out hard to watch. The initial scene with the bear that i mentioned is so intense and it doesn't stop there. The film is slow, but not in a boring way. It is slow because its a character study on Glass' part and the amazing performance we get makes it the compelling type of slow. But when there is an intense scene, all notches are turned up 100% and we do not know where things are going to be heading. I never actually read up on the story itself, but that meant i was on the edge rooting for his survival the whole time and not knowing how things would end. The way things do end though are so clever and satisfying that it was worth the wait to see.
As the Oscars approach i have to say, i see this film getting a huge number of them. Dicaprio's long overdue Oscar is in the bag and between Tom Hardy and Sylvester Stallone there is a heated competition. A heartbreaking at times, heartpounding at times type of film that is one of the best in a long time. The hard work put into this film was well worth it in the end.