Average from Leo

Rating: 5/10 (22 December 2015)

Usually one expects good things from Leonardo DiCaprio, especially when coupled with the man of the moment Tom Hardy. Whilst they both deliver stellar performances, dead cert for Oscar nominations, the film itself is only of an average calibre. For 135 million one expects to see a dazzling display but the film only displays normal effects, it would seem that the only reason it cost so much was Iñárritu's insistence on natural light leading to a much longer than usual filming schedule, which drastically inflated the budget. We are shown a fighting bear that is supposed to make for a dramatic scene but the CGI already looks dated, not to mention unnatural, and I ended up watching the clock for the scene to be over, as I noticed others doing too. The storyline itself isn't anything special or that we haven't seen done a million times before. If Leo and Hardy weren't starring in it I imagine so called 'critics' would be calling this an average film. The film would also not break even without their star power.