Glass: He’s afraid. He knows how far I came for him. Same as the elk, when they get afraid, they run deep in to the woods.
After a bear mauling, his men leaving him to die, and witnessing his son’s murder, real-life frontiersman Hugh Glass squares off against nature and incalculable odds to seek his revenge in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s wilderness drama. Although it is quite an entertaining film, and perhaps the most visually stunning one since Stanley Kubrick’sBarry Lyndon, The Revenant presents itself with a too-evident glory, and no amount of dazzling camerawork and shots can save it from its rather straightforward tale.
Set in the unforgiving world of 19th century fur trappers, the film’s focus is on Glass (DiCaprio), a top-notch hunter, guide and survivalist. As head tracker for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, the respect Glass deserves becomes tampered by an envious rival trapper named John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). After a vicious attack by an Indian tribe leaves the remaining crew in dismay and anguish, Fitzgerald begins to question Glass’ expertise. Tensions boil when Fitzgerald threatens Glass’ son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck, but Glass ends up being picked anyway by Captain Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), a questionable and unconfident leader, to take the group back to safety.
Shortly after however, while scavenging for food, Glass is attacked by a Grizzly bear in a horrifyingly realistic sequence as ferocious and terrifying as the bear itself. He kills it, but not after taking severe punishment of his own. Unable to move, he remains on the ground, waiting to die, when his men find him. They put him on a stretcher and attempt to bring him with them, while also trying to outrun the Natives on their tale. It eventually becomes impossible and too much of a burden to continue, and a decision has to be made.
Pleading for his father’s life, Hawk volunteers to stay behind with the crippled Glass, and wait for the group to come back with more men. His friend Bridger (Will Poulter) opts to stay as well. The Captain approves, and offers extra money to anyone else who will ensure Glass is safe. Fitzgerald, whom up until this point had been trying to strand Glass, decides the money is worth a couple days of extra work, and the rest of the crew leaves. It is at this point the audience realizes something is going to go horribly wrong.
Fitzgerald tries to kill Glass, telling him they’ll all die if Glass doesn’t. “All you got to do is blink…save your boy and blink.” When Hawk sees this, he pounces on Fitzgerald. He commands the situation, trying to get Bridger’s attention. But it doesn’t last long, as the ex-confederate ends up stabbing and killing Hawk. Glass watches in horror as Fitzgerald drags the body away. When Bridger returns, Fitzgerald tells him that he saw a clan of Indians nearby and that they need to leave. Bridger questions, but is eventually persuaded, and they leave. This is when Glass’ superhuman determination and strength come into play, as he manages to push and crawl his way out of the grave; his ruthless path to vengeance has begun.
The film’s grotesque violence may not be easy to sit through at times, but there is a lot to admire. Academy Award winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s panoramic views of the wilderness are breathtaking, and the choreographed action is totally mesmerizing and impressive. The opening sequence, the Indian battle, alone makes the film worth watching, and that’s without mentioning the Grizzly attack, which is certainly a triumph in the use of CGI and special effects.
What doesn’t work in The Revenant are Glass’ many dreamlike flashbacks. He longs for his wife, whom was killed years before, and remembers her and some of the times he had with his young child through the flashbacks. They’re too simple and bothersome. Though poetically created and presented, there are just too many of them to enjoy. However, they still manage to make Glass’ vengeance more personal, but that job could have easily been satisfied with only a fraction of the final amount.
But many of the film’s other elements work tremendously. The performances are unquestionably fantastic and authentic. Hardy delivers the performance of a lifetime, and DiCaprio, though this is not my personal favorite of his, gives a truly Oscar-worthy portrayal. But as enjoyable of a film this The Revenant is, watching it, I couldn’t help but have an eerie feeling, or suspicion that the film was made not to impress its audience, but for the awards. It ended up leaving the Academy with three Oscars, so it succeeded. Hopefully it was built to last longer than the awards season.
