Absolutely stunning cinematography

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2016)

This movie much like Innaritu's last takes cinematography to a whole new level in a gorgeously shot movie. front start to finish you are presented with breathtaking shots of the landscape and how DiCaprio's character deals with it. There were points where i felt like i was right next to the action and it was an incredibly immersive experience. one shot in particular astounded me: this shot was in the woods near the end of the movie where DiCaprios character is found; the screen is completely black and then the glow of torches starts to fade through the trees. i was shocked as i looked through a glowing forest at the men riding their horses toward me. This is the type of cinematographal prowess Innaritu is able to bring to the screen, really fantastic and i will be quite surprised if it doesn't take the Oscar for that category.
The acting was extremely well done, with Leonardo putting in a seller performance filled with anguish, and Tom Hardy making me absolutely despise his character by the end. The acting was complemented with a good story and a better script (or lack of rather), but i did find myself getting bored at times because sometimes things took just a little bit too long. what i mean to say is that it could have been a shorter movie. the first half of the movie was great and i got really interested in the story especially after his son died, but i began to forget about those conflicts as the movies went on. i do appreciate the survival parts but i felt that they were drawn out almost to the point that i lost interest in the conflicts between characters and got distracted by his conflict with nature. not that this is bad, on the contrary that can be very compelling as it kind of pulls your attention in the direction of the character, but for me it just took away from the previous plot lines and didn't advance its own enough.
Overall a fantastic film both technically and creatively, that shows off the brilliance of Innaritu