A gorgeously visceral exercise in brutality...

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2016)

The Revenant from the trailers and promos seemed like DiCaprio's turn in a beating-the-odds-survival story but that is not what this movie is about. Rather, this is a very unique, gorgeously visceral exercise in brutality.
As usual DiCaprio gives another Oscar worthy performance (this might finally be his year) and last year's Oscar winning director A. G. Iñárritu is a solid director. The real winner in the movie is the cinematography; which is absolutely fantastic. Tom Hardy along with the rest of the cast also keep the intensity to the maximum. The only thing that falls short is the thin plot and story line, with not much substance there to work with and a slight lack of emotional depth (sometimes the brutality seems like the means and the end with no point to be found).
Despite its shortcomings it is a must watch and one of the best movies of the year.