By Holly Tata | Observer Contributor
Courtesy 20thCenturyFox.com
After losing a fight with a grizzly bear, frontiersman and all-around-tough-guy Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street), crawls, hobbles, and fights his way over the frozen unforgiving wilderness back to the fort and the men who left him for dead.
The Revenant is harrowing and enjoyable to watch, but it seriously missed the mark when it comes to character development. The movie does not give the audience much detail about DiCaprio’s character other than painting him as a tough as nails survivor and loving father, making Hugh Glass seem like an unfinished character.
There were so many opportunities to give us a look into Glass’s past or his personality that were missed, and instead we are just watching an angry man in the woods. His story arc almost feels boring because of how tough they make Glass out to be at first, so the audience already gets a sense that he will survive.
There are some scenes that are so intimate with Leonardo DiCaprio’s character that the screen/camera fogs up, creating an immersive experience that really makes the audience feel as if they are struggling to survive in the wilderness with Hugh Glass.
The film is set in North and South Dakota circa 1823, when it was simply known as “The Northern Plains.” While the movie depicts in historic detail the fights frontiersmen would have had with Native Americans, the Native Americans were not necessarily made the villains in this movie, which was important. The movie portrays the plight of Native Americans in a very realistic light, showing both sides of the struggle for supremacy on the plains instead of only telling the white side of the story.
There is very little dialogue to this movie (unless you count grunting and groaning), but the breathtaking nature shots and captivating score by Ryuichi Sakamoto keep the viewer engaged throughout.
The Revenant is an enjoyable experience, and DiCaprio certainly deserved every award he earned for his performance. I just wish that the writers had given us a little more to the story.
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