The Revenant

When it comes to gritty, survival films, Hollywood has graced our movie screens with some amazing conveyances of what it takes to survive and what tactics one must perform in which to survive. Films like "127 Hours", "Lord of the Flies", "The Grey", even the recent "The Martian" have been extreme nail-biters and will go down in the annals of Hollywood lore as ones that are unforgettable. So when viewing "The Revenant", I truly will not forget this film for quite some time.

Inspired by true events, this story captures one man's epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In a fur trading expedition in the 1820's of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a grizzly bear and left for dead by certain members of his own hunting team consisting of Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Bridger (Will Poulter). In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant, Fitzgerald. Guided by sheer will and love for his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.

Others to round out the cast are Forrest Goodluck as Hawk, Glass' son, Paul Anderson as Anderson, Kristoffer Joner as Murphy, Joshua Burge as Stubby Bill, Melaw Nakehk'o as Powaqa, Fabrice Adde as Toussaint, Arthur Redcloud as Hikuc, Christopher Rosamund as Boone, Lukas Haas as Jones and Robert Moloney as Dave Stomach Wound.

This was intensely and grittily directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu ("Amores Perros" 2000, "21 Grams" '03, "Babel" '06, "Biutiful" '10, "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" '14). As with "Birdman", this was brilliantly directed in that every single character in the film simply came to life by his ability to get his actors to exude the complexities and multi-dimensional nuances he can do so well, of course with actors like DiCaprio and Hardy, how he go wrong? It was equally written well by Mark L. Smith and Inarritu based in part on the novel by Michael Punke. Not only was this an amazing survival film, but an unbeatable cat and mouse game as well. It was one character staying just enough steps ahead of the other after a certain point. These guys are seasoned writers and it shows in spades--it's cohesive and extremely well thought out. The photography by Emmanuel Lubezki, asc/amc ("Sleepy Hollow", "Children of Men" "Gravity", "Birdman") was simply breathtaking. He will undoubtedly be nominated come Oscar time. He won last year Oscar for shooting Inarritu's "Birdman", a much deserved award. This has already garnered several Golden Globe nods, and will surely receive several Oscar nods as well--possibly win. The bear attack scene was spine tingling in that the way it was shot, it reeked of incredible realism. Between visuals by ILM (Industrial, Light & Magic) and Lubezki's cinematography, it's no wonder it came across looking that way.

Even if grit and intensity is not your cup of tea, the direction, writing, photography and both performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy is worth a viewing of this. Who knows, this could be DiCaprio's year. Who Knows.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                Rated: R                                 156mins.