However, I didn’t like The Revenant all that much. It’s beautiful at times, with great cinematography. Inarritu has shown a great propensity for using that unbroken tracking shot (something that is being used more and more often in Hollywood, as Netflix’s Daredevil has used to devastatingly brilliant effects), and at times the film makes you feel like you are there. Blood splatters to the camera lens, breath fogs it, and dirt covers it. But, all those things can’t really help make up for the fact that The Revenant is way too long. The problem with making movies about a man’s survival in nature, or about man vs. wild is that it takes
It’s in these types of slow movies that you often find great acting, and this is no exception. The bit players are good, but the stars show why they are so. I’ve already touched on Leo in my opening paragraph, but there is another headliner here. Tom Hardy absolutely disappears into his role. You believe in his character motivations, you hate him, but you also can’t help but see his points. He is a scared man in a big world and is just trying to do what the movie is all about: survive. Some of the best scenes in the film are the scenes of action, which is why I think it would be a better movie if it had been condensed a bit. Even the overused unbroken shot makes those scenes better. For instance, I think the opening scene with the battle of the Akirara was the best one in the film. Some films need the tension build up or character development from all the extra shots, but I don’t think this movie really required it. For instance, I think Birdman used that well to development the main character. But in The Revenant, it was done because Inarritu wanted to put his stamp on it. But if you cut out a lot of the middle of the film, this movie wouldn’t have been okay, it would have been great.
3 Comments
6/27/2016 09:36:47 am
I don't understand the rating. It seems like you realize that a lot of this movie is exceptionally shot and acted, but you'd say the movie is above average? What do you think should have been done differently? Was it the slow scenes and the ending alone that killed it?
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David
6/28/2016 02:39:09 pm
I debated a lot between a B- and a C+ for this film. As you mentioned, and I did as well, the movie was acted well, and is very pretty at times. However, it seems like Innaritu is a bit of a one-trick-pony with his camera work.
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7/1/2016 12:15:24 am
I don't know if I'd call being a one-trick-pony a bad thing, if the shots are extremely impressive. I'd bet money you'd be hard-pressed to find other films with combat scenes that aren't all chopped up into 30+ takes.
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