The Revenant (FILM REVIEW)
The Revenant
Film
Review
by Kam Williams
Harrowing
Tale of Survival Recounts Legendary Explorer's Grueling Ordeal on
American Frontier
Hugh
Glass (1780-1833) was a legendary frontiersman who explored the
American West in the early 19th Century. He's been previously
portrayed on the big screen by Richard Harris in Man in the
Wilderness (1971) and by Dewitt Lee in Apache Blood (1975).
Glass'
life story has also been the subject of several books, most recently,
The Revenant, a harrowing tale of survival published by Michael Punke
in 2002. That best-selling page-turner has now been adapted by
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, who won a trio of Academy Awards for
writing, directing and producing Birdman, 2015's Best Picture of the
Year.
The
film stars Leonardo DiCaprio who just might finally land the Oscar
that has eluded his grasp five times before. For, this is a star
vehicle featuring the veteran thespian in virtually every scene. And
he never disappoints, delivering again and again in a compelling
performance which keeps you on the edge of your seat as you pull for
his character from beginning to end.
At
the point of departure, we are introduced to Hugh and his orphaned,
Pawnee son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), as they escort a hunting party
of fur trappers across the Rockies. Along the way, the expedition is
tested at every turn, whether by "Injun" ambush, animal attack, frigid
weather or the challenging terrain.
Unfortunately,
one member of the crew, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), is a cowardly
racist with no reservations about cavalierly murdering Hawk and
leaving the boy's badly wounded father behind to die in the forest.
Instead of perishing, Hugh exhibits an incomparable will to survive,
if only to pursue his son's killer to the end of the Earth, or at
least back to the fort.
What
ensues is a visually-captivating spectacular chronicling our intrepid
hero's determination to exact revenge in honor of his dearly-departed
offspring. Despite the host of hurdles in his path, Hugh remains
resolute as he stalks Fitzgerald across a vast expanse of the Wyoming
wilderness in a deliberately-paced game of cat-and-mouse. Credit co-star
Tom Hardy for serving up the sort of sniveling villain in the
backstabbing Fitzgerald.that an audience just loves to see get his
due. That makes it easy to endure the 2+ hour build-up to the fierce
finale.
A
relentlessly-gruesome, gritty and grim adventure reminiscent of how
the West was won.
Excellent (4
stars)
Rated
R for profanity,
graphic violence, gory images, ethnic slurs, brief nudity and a rape
In English, French and Native
American dialects with subtitles
Running time: 156 minutes
Distributor: 20th
Century Fox
To see a trailer for The Revenant,
visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRfj1VCg16Y
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