The Revenant is the new epic movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio with support from Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Lukas Haas and directorial responsibility in the hands of Academy Award Winner Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman, Babel), who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film.
The movie is based on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel of the same name, which was inspired by the life of frontiersman, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a legendary explorer who is severely injured in an attack by a bear and then left for dead by a traitorous member of his team, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). A ‘revenant’ is a visible ghost or animated corpse that supposedly returns to terrorise the living and that pretty much sums the movie up. Glass must navigate an extremely hostile environment, a brutal winter and warring tribes in a relentless quest to survive and exact vengeance on Fitzgerald. Only the love of his family and the desire for revenge and redemption keep him going on this visceral quest.
The film is beautifully shot in locations across Canada, the USA and Argentina and is visually stunning throughout. DiCaprio further extends his reputation as the leading actor of his generation, putting in a typically consistent performance. Rumours are that The Revenant is likely to deliver DiCaprio’s 5th Oscar nomination for Best Actor; don’t bet against him receiving an overdue first statue come February. Although there is limited dialogue due to Leo spending large chunks of the film in isolation, the difficulties of acting out this part in severely harsh conditions could be enough to earn him the gong. Tom Hardy, as with many of his best outings, plays the bad guy extremely well, though at times his pronounced deep-south drawl was difficult to understand, particularly in the first half of the film. Despite the Kings of Leon-esque accent, his performance as a murderous, untrustworthy villain is believable and solid.
The revenge theme present throughout invokes memories of “Gladiator”, whilst the setting and at-times gory violence are reminiscent of “Last of the Mohicans”. If you like both of those, The Revenant will keep you sufficiently entertained throughout and is definitely worth going to see.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpTtjZSz5J0&w=560&h=315]
The Revenant is in cinemas January 7.
Review by Richard Skipper
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