82% on Rotten Tomatoes
Chloe's thoughts: Watch it in cinemas; It's alright
Watch it if you: Want to watch great cinematography; want to watch great acting (and the reason Leo now has an Oscar); do not mind slightly long and drawn-out scenes (in the name of film-making!)
In the early 1800s, fur trapper Hugh Glass is viciously attacked by a bear only to be left for dead by members of his own hunting team. His need for vengeance is the only thing left to fuel his survival and brutal journey through the winter to track down the man who betrayed him.
I was so super keen for this film, it was one of my most anticipated films of this season, so much so that I was so upset I would have to wait until I got back from my holiday to watch it (it came out on January 7th and I came back January 16th). I ended up watching it the day after I got back though, so life is good again.
The premise of this story is pretty interesting. I won't spoil it (I don't really know if what I'm thinking of even IS a spoiler though because it's mentioned in the trailer), but the film did a good job at portraying this sense of a NEED for vengeance. In between Leonardo's grunting and wincing in pain from his injuries, there's not too much dialogue from him, so it's a testament to his great acting how much emotion you could get from the film.
Speaking of which, I think that if Leo doesn't get his Oscar for this, he never will. This is his first nomination that I think is actually worthy of winning, and to be honest I don't really understand why people think he has always been robbed of an Oscar. Don't get me wrong, he's a great actor, but his roles have never been that great, and definitely were not better than the people who did win their Oscars. Take a look at 2014's awards, where he was nominated for Best Actor for The Wolf of Wall Street. Some people (mainly internet commenters but still) were saying that he deserved the Oscar for it, but up against Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club? I haven't even seen that film but McConaughey looked awesome in it and he even fit all the criteria necessary to win an Oscar (because unfortunately, merit is not the only factor when it comes to winning Oscars).
However, in this film, Leo has done everything right. Not only is his acting superb in this, but this is inspired by true events (The Academy loves movies based on real stories), the whole film is about the main character making a come back, and Leo was REALLY committed to this role (The Academy loves it when someone loses/gains weight for a role, but here Leo ate raw Bison and spent the night literally inside a dead animal ON TOP of the fact that filming was already extremely difficult due to the weather).
The other actors were great too. Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, and even Will Poulter (who is probably only recognisable as the weird-looking guy on Maze Runner posters) were great supporting actors. Seriously, what has Domhnall done wrong recently?
The cinematography was also amazing for this film. All the shots were stunning, and the entire film was extremely beautiful. The film was directed really well too (no surprises there I suppose, as it's coming from Alejandro Iñárritu, the director of Birdman (2014)).
I really liked the sound of the film as well. Like it wasn't so much the score, but there were some really raw moments with like tribal music and just heavy breathing and I think that added to the film and the whole experience.
The only downside is that the film seems a bit long in the middle. I think this may just be because there was quite a lot of focus on Glass' struggles, wincing in pain, etc. They actually spent quite a while focusing on his heavy breathing, grunting, and all that (the guy next to me was even laughing at it all), but I'm actually glad they didn't cut more out, as that probably would have detracted from the film.
All in all, this is a great film, worthy of it's 12 Academy Award nominations (and I just HAVE to add that Mad Max: Fury Road comes in second with 10 nominations yay). The acting is great, the cinematography is superb, and the whole experience of it is great. Leo, the Oscar is yours.
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